In My Dreams
by NewName.NewGame.Stillme2482
Summary: Set one week after the new born battle. Bella spends the night in Edwards bed, but all week Edward has not been in her dreams. He can't take her dreaming about Jacob for one more second. All Bella needed was a dream to tell her what she really wanted.
1. The Fallout

"God damn it Bella"

I woke to the sound of shattering glass and yelling. I looked up to see one of the beautiful bay windows in Edward's room smashed to pieces. I was immediately cold as the dead, the wind hitting my lethargic body, sending sold tingles through my body. I craved warmth, but knew I was never going to get it. "Edward what's wrong" I asked timidly, the look in his eyes scaring me for the first time in our relationship.

"It's been a week Bella. You said goodbye. You told me you were sure, you reassured me that this was what you wanted" he ranted, pacing his room angrily to stop himself from throwing more objects at the glass.

"What are you talking about?" I asked, my voice cracking before finally gaining some strength. I didn't understand what had angered him to this point. His eyes flickered to his bedroom door quickly before returning his piercing stare to me. "His name. You have been talked about nothing but Jacob in your sleep for a week. I've been erased from your dreams" he yelled.

I was shocked at this news, he hadn't said anything about me talking about Jacob for a week and now he was yelling and screaming at me like I had some control over it. Like I was doing it to torture him. I had never seen him so angry, the look in his eyes rivaled the fury in his eyes when he was fighting Victoria a week before. I had never seen this side of Edward before and I was actually scared of him, but he wasn't done. "Edward, I have always said Jacob's name in my sleep. He is my best friend. I miss him. Why are you so angry? You're scaring me" I tried to reason with him, ignoring the confession that Edwards name hadn't passed my lips in my sleep for a week. That certainly was new. His face didn't soften at news that he was scaring me, he was at the point where he really didn't care. That much was obvious.

"Yeah, well you are lying. To everyone; to me, to yourself and to him. You don't just say his name anymore. You apologize" I tried to interrupt but his face hardened even more, into an unrecognizable person that I knew not to disobey. "Oh that's not the half of it. The apology I can understand. It's when you confess your undying love for him and say I do at what I can only assume is your wedding, that I have an issue with. Oh then there's the dream sex, were you moan and coo his name while your arousal permeates the air. You talk about having his children, you live the life you would have had with him in you're dreams" he continues to rant.

The second he started to explain what I had been saying in my sleep for a week, the dreams came rushing back to me like a movie, with the happiest ending. I saw Jacob's beautiful smile when he proposed to me and I said yes. I saw the look on his face when he saw me walk down the isle in the most beautiful white flowing gown on the beach. I saw the tears of joy in his eyes and my own over whelming joy when I held up the positive pregnancy test. I saw my own beautiful brown eyed, dark haired little girl running around with her equally beautiful father in the front yard of the home we built for ourselves. I remembered the beautiful dream land where I got exactly what I subconsciously knew I wanted more than anything but never remembered when I woke. I was speechless, I felt horrible for subjecting Edward to the front row seat of my fantasies. This realization for like the final nail in the coffin holding this relationship, I had seen exactly what I could have in life and none of it could be had with Edward. My eyes filled with tears when I looked up at his miserable face; his breathtaking beauty tainted by pain and sorrow. He looked utterly broken, just like I had been when he left. When he had sworn that he didn't love me; didn't want me; when he broke me and I turned to Jacob for comfort. Jacob had been my sun, the only thing that could make me warm and keep me together; he mended my heart and all I had done was hurt him. He put my heart back together and I shattered his.

Edward's heavy sigh brought me back to reality, my eyes had never let his face during my revelation but his eyes didn't hold me captive like they always had. Refocusing on him, I recognized a layer of rage in his jumbled emotions. That really scared me. I knew in that moment that this was no longer the person I had loved, he was different and he couldn't be trusted. The rage took the Edward I had loved and destroyed him, now I was just hoping it didn't destroy me with it.

"I'm so sorry Edward. I should go" I said softly, not really sure what else to say. I just wanted out of here. I rose from the bed placed in Edward's room specifically for me, grabbed my things and walked to the door. He beat me there, blocking my exit.

"I deserve an explanation" it was obvious that he really had reached the end of his rope with this situation. I looked down at the ground, not wanting to remember the person I had loved so much by only this moment.

"You are absolutely right. I lived the life I want with Jacob in my dreams. My subconscious obviously doesn't have the ability to stay in denial anymore. Saying goodbye to Jake finally made me snap. I tried to ignore that damage that was done by the zombie like coma you put me in but saying good bye to him after the new born battle almost broke me. When you were gone, I was numb. When he is gone, I am miserable. He filled the void you left when you left me, now we all get to live with the consequences of that" I explained quietly. I noticed the whole house was dead silent. He still hadn't moved from the door, the reality of the situation was obviously hitting him. I tried to reach for the door knob but he grabbed my wrist then froze. He seemed to be in shock.

"Edward, let go of me please. You promised that if I changed my mind you would understand" I implored while slipping off his engagement ring and placing it on the desk within reach, he still hadn't let go.

"Bella, no you can't do this. What about eternity? What about me?" he started to get hysterical as his grip tightened on my wrist. I winced, "Edward, your hurting me. Please let me go" she begged. I finally heard footsteps in that moment; the family was coming to rescue me.

"No Alice. I can't let her go" he responded to what I only assumed were Alice's thoughts.

Edwards's eyes reconnected with mine, silently begging me to stay and fix this, I didn't recognize him anymore. He was broken and sad but he was also angry and desperate. I had always painted him as such a selfless person, but now as he clutched to my wrist painfully, practically hold me hostage in his bedroom, I realized it had been an act.

This was no longer that person I had loved more than my own life. He pushed me up against the wall, away from the projection of the door that would most likely be swinging any moment now. My wrist was definitely going to be bruised badly.

"Bella, this isn't over. We will have eternity" he threatened before he let go of me and jumped out the shattered bedroom window and running from his family on the other side of the door. Alice and Rosalie were the first faces I saw, seconds after he ran.

"Are you okay Bella?" Alice asked worriedly while Rosalie helped me up off the floor. I didn't remember sinking against the wall and landing on the floor, but that's where I ended up; my whole body shaking with fear. Then like a flip of a switch, I stopped. I couldn't stop thinking, "snap out of it. Be strong for once in your life". Alice chuckled; I didn't realize I had said that out loud. Both ladies took an arm as they slowly led me down the stair case, they seemed to be expecting me to freak out and trip down the stairs or something but I felt rather calm, like this was the way things were supposed to be, like I was on the right path.

I looked over at Alice, "I'm sorry I ruined your visions, I know you really wanted me to be like you guys" I told Alice; honestly sorry that we weren't going to be sisters and that one day they were going to have to mourn my death. "Bella, don't apologize. All we want is for you to be happy. We don't care who it's with" she said with a smile. We reached the living room where the whole family sat waiting for us. They all seemed relieved I was safe and unfarmed. I quickly hugged each member of my extended family before something hit me. "You guys aren't leaving are you? Now that Edward is gone" I asked cautiously, not really sure I wanted the answer. Esme and Carlisle walked up to me hand in hand, "Bella, we didn't want to leave the first time; we did it because of Edward. Plus technically he threatened you so we need to stay close by to keep you safe for a while" Carlisle explained with a sad smile. He obviously didn't like the idea of his son being so unstable and reckless but as usual he was dedicated to protecting me so I could live the normal life I decided I wanted.

I thanked everyone profusely and promised to come and visit soon, they all reassured me that I was still apart of the family and that they would be in touch soon. With that, I left the Cullen house and drove my truck to the La Push border as quickly as I possibly could, breathing easier the second I crossed it.

I looked down at the dashboard of my speeding truck and mentally kicked myself; I was going to be showing up on a door step in La Push at 12:36 A.M. At this point I really didn't have a choice. I pulled into the drive way at picked up my cell phone, it rang three times before I saw the bedroom light click on in the house and a sleep filled voice answered the phone.

"Hello?"

"Emily, its Bella. I'm so sorry it's so late but I need a favor. Is Sam on patrol?" I asked quickly hoping Emily wasn't going to hang up because of the way I had treated Jacob. Right now I needed a wolf girl friend.

"Yeah he is. Bella what's wrong? Are you okay?" she asked slightly panicked.

"Yeah Em. I'm fine. I'm actually in your drive way. Can I come in?" I asked timidly, half expecting to be sent away. Seconds later the door to Emily and Sam's home was opened and warm light was pouring out, I walked in slowly only to be attacked with hugs by Emily.

"God, you scared me. Are you sure you're okay? Here take off your coat, I'll make us some tea" Emily went straight into mother hen mode and I smiled lightly, I hadn't realized how much I had missed Emily and really the whole pack.

"I'm fine I swear. Just a bit shaken up. I'm shocked you let me in. I half expected you to hang up the phone and go back to sleep" I admitted and Emily looked hurt.

"Bella I would never. Once a family member, always a family member. I will say it once and again and again until everyone understands, you can't help who you love" she explained with a small smile. Obviously, she had been defending me in front of the pack even though I didn't deserve it.

"Wow, I missed you" I admitted quietly while hugging her again. Emily smiled once more before her face got serious. "Bella, what happened?" she asked quickly, obviously tired of the preamble.

"I left Edward" I blurted, watching Emily's shocked expression before she rephrased, "Or rather he left me; but not the same way as last time. Ughh, I'm so confused" I tried to explain. "Okay Bella, calm down and tell me what happened" she said while leading Bella to the dining room table. I sat while Emily quickly went to work on the tea, giving me a few minutes to collect my thought. Minutes later we were sitting with our tea and I was explaining everything that had happened in the last couple of hours. We were completely unaware of the wolf ears that were on the front porch silently listening to every word of the conversation and broadcasting it to the patrolling members of the pack.

INSERT LINE

Meanwhile, on first beach….(JPOV)

I sat on our tree stump on First Beach for the 6th time this week. I had been pulled from patrolling rounds for a week to completely finish healing from the newborn beat down I took part in. Thanks to Leah and her macho ways, I had to jump in front of a newborn leech to save her ass and he crunched my whole left side. Word around the Rez was that I was in a motorcycle accident so I had to keep up appearances with the crutches which were nothing but a nuisance.

It's been a week. One whole week since the girl that was supposed to be the love of my life shattered my heart to become a leech. I told her not to come around anymore after she destroyed me and I have regretted that request every second since she walked out of my bedroom door. She didn't call or stop by, nothing. She was off with her bloodsucker in leech land planning the nuptials and the transition, where he effectively sucks the life out of the girl I want to spend my life with.

This whole fate thing really was bullshit. I was supposed to be with Bella. She was supposed to be mine, to want me. The imprint proves it. I knew I imprinted the second I saw her in the meadow with the leech with the dreads. She was everything to me and now my whole body ached for her. The universe was a real bitch. Sam got his Emily, Jared got Kim, Paul got Rachel, Quil got Claire, but me, nope, I don't get jack shit. It's about one o' clock in the morning and I'm doing nothing but staring at the waves, sitting in the one place I feel connected to her. My emotions are all over the place, I have rage for the bloodsucker, unconditional love for Bella and disappointment in life. I couldn't even bring myself to be mad at Bella, I loved her too much.

After I realized I imprinted, I made it my mission in life to fight for her; to put her back together so that she could love me. I lied to her and told her I didn't imprint on her specifically so she could fall for me, she could choose me without the pull of some supernatural crap that I didn't want to believe in. I had picked Bella way before my wolf had; she was already starring in my dreams before I had started phasing, the wolf and the imprint just backed up everything I already knew.

I replayed our kiss in my head so many times I knew the pack would have been killing me if they had been in my head this week. That was going to be the closest I ever got to Bella. That realization hurt like a bitch.

I was brought back to the present by a loud howl in the woods, something was going on. I looked down at my phone and realized I had been thinking for a whole hour. It was now 2:00 A.M. but whoever was on patrol obviously needed backup. "What the hell, I feel fine, I waited a week, time to phase" I thought to myself. I ditched my crutches and my clothes quickly and focused all of my energy on phasing. I loved the feel of the power coursing through my veins as my form changed quickly and painlessly. I tested my wolf body quickly to make sure Dr. Fang was right about the one week phasing ban. I seemed fine.

"_All right Jake is back in fur"_ Quil thought appreciatively.

"_How ya feeling dude?"_ Embry asked, his thoughts were focused on the conversation and me, he wasn't thinking about anything else, he was hiding something.

"_Damn Jake, how do you always know?"_ Quil asked

I mentally chuckled, I knew their thoughts as well as my own. I always know when someone is hiding something, especially these two.

"_Embry, just tell me what's going on. I feel out of the loop and ur tense thinking is creeping me out"_ I though to him. He didn't relax.

"_Jake, don't freak out, but during patrol I ran by Sam's. Bella's truck was parked in front of their place so I went to go check it out. She was having a very interesting discussion with Emily I think you wanna hear" _Embry explained, my heart sped up and I immediately starting running, stretching my legs.

"_Wait Bella was on the Rez? What did she say? Was she okay? Embry tell me_" I almost yelled

"_Jake calm down. You shouldn't be running that hard after a week off"_ Quil warned and I slowed down, knowing he was right.

"_Wow, can I have that in writing?"_ Quil joked and I growled.

"_Embry! What did she say?"_ This time, I yelled and they both winced.

"_Okay dude, here it goes" _It was like Embry pressed play on a DVD only it was just sound, yeah our memories are that good. Bella's voice was the first thing I heard, like music to my ears. I felt my heart swell and the urge to run to her, wherever she was.

"_Wow Jake, that was corny" _Quil teased and I growled again.

"_Quil, make fun of me after I know what she said_" I told him, he agreed and the memory played.

"_Okay Bella. So what happened? What do you mean you left Edward, or he left you or whatever. Explain" a voice that could only be Emily said and Bella sighed._

"_Well, Edward woke me up yelling at me and throwing shit in his room. He said I was talking about Jake in my sleep all week, and not just saying his name, like acting out what my life with him would be like. He told me that everything I had been dreaming about was blatantly obvious by my words. Then I remembered the dreams as he told me what I had been saying. The whole thing was beautiful. I saw everything that would have happened if I hadn't picked Edward. I had these dreams every night for a week with Edward listening. It was obviously driving him insane because he was crazy when I woke up. I realized I was completely wrong. Edward had me fooled for so long but the second I considered changing my mind, he dropped his whole selfless act and tried to hold me hostage in his room. He threatened me with eternity so he obviously has ever intention of changing me against my will. Alice and Rose had to come help me get out of his room. He probably would have kept me there if the family would have been home. So now they family is going to try to find him and talk him down, but until then they think I'm in danger" she paused and sipped her drink. _

"_So what are you going to do now?" Emily asked her. _

"_I'll hang out until the Edward thing plays out and he isn't a threat and then I'll probably go to Jacksonville for a few years" she explained. _I'd had enough, she still didn't want me._ "Embry, I'm done. This is bullshit" _I told him and the memory paused.

"_Jake, trust me. You gotta hear the rest. It's not what you think. Trust me"_ Embry pushed and I groaned, he continued the memory.

_Emily was obviously shocked, "but what about Jacob?" she asked. _

"_That's why I gotta go to Jacksonville. He needs to imprint. He won't do that with me here. I'll come back after he's imprinted. But I can't watch it happen, it would kill me. Off all of the pack members, Jake needs to imprint the most, he's gotta pass on the chief genes. He deserves his soul mate. I won't take that away from him. If you truly love someone then you gotta let them be happy, even if it isn't with you" she explained sadly. They were both sniffling, obviously crying. _

"_That's beautiful Bella. You really do love him don't you?" Emily asked._

"_More than anything. I just wish it could be me. Who ever the girl is, she is the luckiest in the world. I would give anything to be her" Bella said before she yawned. _The memory ended there. I was speechless, thoughtless, frozen. She loved me, she wanted me, she ended it with the leech because she wanted me.

"_Uh Jake, sorry to ruin the moment, but she doesn't know you imprinted on her and has every intention of going to the opposite end of the United States to avoid having to watch you imprint. You gotta do something_" Quil reasoned, bringing me back to reality where I was standing in a clearing in wolf form completely frozen in place.

"_Shit your right. Where is she? I gotta talk to her. I have to tell her that I imprinted on her. Wait, why didn't Emily tell her?" _I asked them. I heard Quil chuckle and Embry exhaled loudly.

Quil spoke first, "_Jake, only people that share your head know about Bella being your imprint. Sam never told Emily, he didn't think it was his place. Plus he didn't want to run the risk of Em telling the other imprints. That would be a fiasco" _he joked.

"_I'm shocked he pulled it off. He tells her everything normally. It must be eating him up inside, he gossips like a girl sometimes" _I joked, obviously more relaxed.

We laughed together for the first time in what felt like months. I felt really bad for making them suffer with me but I didn't really know how to avoid it. I really owed them a lot.

"_Don't worry Jake. You have all the time in the world to make it up to us" Quil said._

"_She's staying with Emily tonight. You should probably go home and let her sleep and then talk to her later" Embry told me. _I knew he was right but I was chomping at the bit to tell her that we could be together, to get to kiss her without worrying if it will be the only time I'm allowed. I ran back to my clothes and my clutches inside the tree line by the beach.

"_Jake seriously, she's had a rough night. Wait until after dawn. Let her get some sleep" _Embry said,obviously the conversation he witnessed was making him worry about her stability. He always did have a soft spot for her_. _

"_Okay guys. I'm gonna go get some sleep and talk to her at a normal hour. Let me know if anything else happens with this. I can't lose her again guys" _I felt like I was begging, but was past the point of caring.

"_Night Jake_" the said together and I phased and dressed quickly. I ran back to my house quickly, carrying my stupid crutches and flew in the front door. The house was silent so I made a snack of about 4 peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and went to bed.

I flopped down on my bed and my face made contact with a piece of paper that had obviously been strategically placed on my pillow. My name was written on the front of the folded piece of paper in small feminine writing, I knew that hand writing. I read quickly:

_Jake, _

_Go find your Emily. I love __you __always. Thank you for giving me life and sunshine again._

_Love Bells_

A single tear rolled down my cheek. This was her way of telling me she wasn't becoming like him. This was her way of trying to get me to let go. She really did want me to have my soul mate, even if she thought it wasn't her. My heart swelled again. She had to know. I had to tell her. I was going to get up right then and go tell her, but first, I closed my eyes and envisioned what her face would look like when I told her, how she would react. She looked breathtaking in my dream. That's exactly what it was too, I fell asleep clutching the note and thinking about her beautiful face.


	2. Damage Control

A.N. Hello? Is anyone out there? I had a lot of traffic but only a handful of alerts and favorites. Am I writing this for myself? I mean that's okay if I am but if your reading and enjoying, please review. It keeps my spirits up and makes me feel like I'm not doing a horrible job. Thank you- Ashley

* * *

I sat up in bed so fast my head spun. The room was dark, I had no idea what time it was and I didn't look. I didn't need to know the number; I already knew I woke up later than I expected. I got up out of the comfortable bed that Emily let me borrow for the morning and circled the room looking for all of my things.

I knew I had to get out of here; I was practically in pack headquarters. I told Jake that I would do us both a favor and not be around for a while and here I am, in his alpha's house. I know eventually Emily will tell the pack and especially Jacob what happened yesterday but I needed to get out of here before she could. If Jake found out I was in love with him and only him before I left he would try and convince me to stay. He would promise that he would never imprint because he loved me, but I couldn't face him.

If I saw him, I would cave instantaneously. I would jump into his arms and apologize and tell him that it was always him; I was just too dumb to realize it. I would stay and it would end up hurting us both in the end.

I had to get out of Washington before he went home and read my note. He would come looking for me the second he woke up. I needed to put some states between us, and fast.

I texted Alice as I packed, I told her what I was planning so she knew not to think about me around Edward. She told me the family hadn't heard from him but Tanya in Denali had. He ran there for refuge. That was perfect; he wouldn't be able to follow me then. I quietly opened the bedroom door with my bag slung over my shoulder and my shoes in my hands. I repeated the same prayer in my head over and over again, "please don't let any wolves be here". I made it down the hall way as silently as possible. I was so close and I heard no sounds, I was home free.

Until, I saw the dining room. The room looked like an intervention. The whole pack minus Paul and Leah were sitting in the dining room eyeing me with disapproving looks. I looked to the front door and there stood Jacob with his arms crossed over his chest. Busted. I looked over at Emily who was being held by Sam in the walk way to the kitchen, she gave me a warm knowing smile.

"Sneaking out Bells?" Jacob asked, a small smile playing on his lips, he obviously got my note this morning. His eyes locked onto mine and it was like the rest of the world disappeared, I saw nothing but undying love.

"Yeah Bella, it looks like your doing the walk of shame. I thought Paul was on patrol. He's normally the only one that can get a girl to sneak out of a house in the early morning with a regretful look on her face" Quil joked, Jake growled at his implication and Emily smacked Quil on the back of the head without leaving Sam's arms. The rest of the pack chuckled lightly while I sent Quil a death glare.

I sighed heavily, "No walk of shame, just need to get home. Excuse me Jake" I said while trying to walk out the door. He blocked my path; the sense of déjà vu was overwhelming.

"Jacob, please move. I need to leave. I shouldn't have come here in the first place" I started evenly, not looking into his eyes, and then I looked to Emily, "thank you for letting me stay Emily. I really appreciate it" I thanked her. I tried for the door one more time but he wouldn't budge, he reached for my wrist and I winced before I could control it. He looked alarmed.

"Bella, what's wrong with you wrist?" he asked quietly. The whole room was silent. I pulled my sleeve down to cover the bruise that had developed while I slept. "Nothing. I'm fine. I just need to leave. Now" I said again, no one made a move as my eyes filled with tears. I stared at the floor, avoiding eye contact with everyone.

Emily broke the silence, "Bella, at least stay for breakfast. Please." She implored; half the packs attention moved to her at the mention of food, except for Jacob, Seth and Embry who continued to stare at me. "I can't stay. I made a promise that I wouldn't be around for awhile. I keep my promises" I told her quietly, Jacob stiffened at my words. I heard him exhale loudly. The whole room buzzed with words that were not being said; the quiet was not something that comes often in the presence of the pack. The whole room was on edge.

Jacob finally spoke, "Bella, we need to talk".

My eyes filled with tears again, "No Jake. We don't. The note was all that needed to be said. You know the truth, that's all the matters" I said softly. I surprised myself by leaning up on the tip of my toes and kissing his cheek softly. He froze along with the rest of the room. I took my opportunity and snuck around him and out the door into the pouring rain of the early morning.

As soon as the door slammed behind me, I heard the yelling in the house, "Damn it Jake. Go after her" it sounded like Seth, which shocked me.

"Go tell her the truth right now" Sam ordered, his voice bellowing through the whole house. I sprinted for my truck. Well, that was a bad idea, right before I could grasp the truck handle I slipped in a small mud puddle right by my truck and fell on my ass.

I sat there in the mud and rain, utterly defeated. I hated that I was trying to be selfless. I wanted nothing more than to throw caution to the wind and be happy with any time I could get with Jake. But I knew that if I couldn't have him forever then I couldn't let myself get any more involved. I wouldn't survive him leaving me. He deserved his soul mate. He deserved to be alpha; to love the person who was destined for him. She would probably be beautiful with dark skin and black hair. She would look something like Leah. She would deserve him. They would get married and have beautiful children here on the Rez. She would become part of the pack, another den mother just like Emily.

They would have the perfect life that Jacob deserved. He would finally have someone who would know from the second she laid eyes on him that he was her destiny and she would let him into her heart without a backwards glance. He would get his perfection.

I continued to sit there in the mud by my truck, playing the movie in my head of what Jacob's perfect life would become. The tears fell rapidly, my whole body ached. I was soaked through and shivering, but I didn't notice. The numb feeling was just my body, my soul was burning, and my heart was ripping to shreds. I didn't reappear in reality until I felt two insanely warm hands lift me up off the ground. I looked up into Jacob's pain stricken face as he set me on my feet. I backed away from his hands quickly. I shouldn't be here; he shouldn't be around me.

"Jake, stop. Go back inside. I gotta get out of here" I yelled over the sound of the pelting rain. He raised his hands in mock surrender but put himself in between me and the door of my truck.

"You're not leaving until we talk Bella so you might as well go back inside" he warned.

"I told you I wouldn't come around. So pretend I was never here. You got my note. Obviously you know what's going on with me so why do we need to talk. It's not gonna change anything Jake" I tried my hardest to be stern; I knew my voice needed to be strong for him to understand, but he didn't move. This wasn't going to be easy.

"Bella, it changes everything. Embry heard the entire conversation you had with Emily last night. I know all of it. Why are you still fighting this" he was getting angry, but he wasn't shaking. He was in control, me on the other hand was cry uncontrollably. He knew everything, well I wasn't expecting that.

"Damn it Jacob. I am not her. It's not me. We can't change that. Just go" I yelled in his face. The whole pack was standing on the porch at this point, watching us.

"Her? What are you talking about?" he asked.

"You can't try to stop an imprint for me. All I have ever done is hurt you. You need to imprint. You deserve an imprint. You're fighting it because of me and that isn't fair. I'm staying human but as soon as I can be guaranteed safety I am leaving Washington. I won't let you throw away the life you deserve with your soul mate for me" I continued to yell.

He huffed loudly, he seemed very aggravated all of a sudden, "This is all my fucking fault" he said under his breath but I'd had enough. I was not going to let him blame any of this on himself. I walked away from him and walk to the passenger side of my truck, quickly getting in, locking the doors and sliding into the driver seat. I started the engine, threw the truck in reserve and looked behind me. Seth and Embry were standing behind my truck blocking my exit. Jacob stood by my door while Jared stood on my passenger side, Quil and Sam stood in front of my truck. They made me immobile. I gave up, I turned off the engine and sat there, alone in my truck; the whole pack surrounding me. My tears took on a new violent escape from my eyes. I sobbed uncontrollably.

Jacob wasn't giving up, "Bella, open the door please. You don't know the whole story. You gotta let me tell you, please" he begged and I shook my head. I wasn't getting out of the truck until it was in Forks and I was alone. I needed to pack, then I needed to drive until I reached a safe distance. I couldn't hurt him anymore; I wouldn't let us do this to each other anymore.

"Fine, then you leave me no choice" he warned before turning to the front of my truck, "Quil go get a slim jim out of the garage please" Jake asked his friend. Quil ran off and was back in seconds carrying a long thin piece of metal; he gave it to Jake who popped the lock on my truck easily. He effortlessly picked me up and carried my back toward the house while I kicked and yelled. I felt like toddler but I was past the point of caring.

He put me back in the spare bedroom and shut the door behind him. I collapsed on the floor in my drenched clothes. I lay down and curled up into a ball trying to warm myself, it was pointless. He stood in front of my staring, he looked as miserable as I felt. He exhaled loudly.

I looked down at my bare feet, I couldn't look at him. I couldn't see that pain on his face anymore; but I could feel his stare. "Bella, do you remember the first time I saw you after I phased?" he asked me quietly. I immediately remembered the conversation we had in my bedroom after he crawled though my window. That was the first time I had really seen him as my possible future, the first time I had realized how drawn to him I really was, the night I started to fall for him. I shook my head to answer his question.

"When I saw you in that meadow being attacked by that leech with the dreads, I freaked out. I focused on killing the bloodsucker as quickly as I possibly could and then after" he paused, deep in the memory, "I looked into your eyes and it was like my heart was gonna burst out of my chest. Like gravity disappeared and you were the only thing holding me to this world. My heart beat for you; my breath was being pulled into my lungs specifically so I could live for you. I imprinted on you. You became a permanent fixture of my soul" he finished and looked up into my eyes, a small smile on his lips.

I stood as still as I possibly could, shock enveloped me. I couldn't believe it. I didn't believe it. It was all too good to be true. I sat up and tucked my legs into my chest, resting my head on my knees, avoiding eye contact with him.

"Jacob, stop" I begged, I wouldn't let myself believe it.

"But Bella it's true. I would never lie to you about this, there is too much at stake" I refused to look up at him, I wanted so desperately to believe him. I would have, if the voice in my head that pledged to protect my heart wasn't screaming at me that it was not possible; that I didn't deserve it.

He was getting discouraged, looking for anything to make me believe before an idea dawned on him. "I'll prove it" he got up and walked out to the hallway before calling "Hey guys come here for a minute" softly to the pack. Jacob sat on the bed while Sam, Jared, Embry, Quil and Seth stood in the door way. All he did to explain was say "she doesn't believe me". The pack looked at me sympathetically. Embry and Seth walked into the room first and sat on either side of me. Seth rested his head on my shoulder and Embry put his arm around me, they were comforting me. Embry spoke first, "Bella, I was there. He imprinted on you that day in the meadow. I witnessed it".

Seth looked over at me too, his head not moving from my shoulder, "I have seen that memory in his head so many times it's ridiculous. Even though I have never felt what he did, there is no doubt in my mind that he imprinted on you" Seth reasoned to me, the other guys all nodded there agreement.

Having Sam, Jared and Quill agree was a big deal. They were all there and they all knew the feeling from when they themselves had imprinted, Jacob was telling the truth. Tears slid down my face again.

"Thank you" I told the pack as Embry kissed my forehead and Seth gently squeezed my head. They filed out of the room silently leaving me and Jacob alone once again.

I cleared my throat and he looked up at me hopefully, "Why didn't you tell me?" I asked quietly while he sat on the ground in front of me. I couldn't take the separation any more; I crawled over to him and took his hand, leading him to lie down next to me on the floor. I rolled onto my side to face him as he did the same, one of his hands still clutching mine.

"I wanted you to pick me without some supernatural pull. I wanted you to want me without feeling obligated. I wanted it to be real" he whispered. He put his arm around my waist and pulled me to his chest. His warmth comforted me like nothing else could. "Bella, I'm so sorry I kept it from you for so long. I should have told you as soon as I decided to fight for you, so you could have made an informed decision but I felt like then you would pick me because you felt guilty, not because you wanted me. Being with you because of your guilt would be worse than being without you" he explained and my heart melted.

"Jake, I-I don't know what to say… this is all such a shock, but I understand why you didn't tell me and I'm not mad" I stuttered

He sat up and looked at me taking both of my hands and pulling me up with him, "Do you love me?" he asked seriously. His eyes were deep pools of chocolate calling to me, I couldn't deny anything anymore. I answered without a second thought, "More than anything". He smiled the most earth shattering beautiful smile, my smile, the one I had missed so much. I answered it with an equally big one. "Do you want to be with me?" he asked quietly while slowly leaning into me, placing his forehead against mine.

"Yes" I answered confidently, my voice slightly raspy from crying and yelling.

He closed his eyes, his forehead firmly pressed against mine, "tell me please" he begged quietly. I pulled away slightly, putting both hand on his shoulders and pushing him backwards so he would lie down again. His eyes opened in a shocked expression, scared that I pulled away, but then he caught on and lay down. I stood up and gently straddled his waist, placing each hand on the ground by his head so I was hovering over him. I pressed my forehead to his again and closed my eyes.

"Jacob Black, I love you more than anything and I want nothing more than to be with you" I told him quietly, my voice holding strength and confidence, there was no doubt in my voice or in my mind.

I opened my eyes to stare back at him, I was in awe of his beautiful smile, I felt so happy knowing that I was the only to put it there. He exhaled loudly, blowing his sweet breath into my face.

"I love you too Bells, more than you will ever know. I feel like I'm dreaming" he said while bringing his hands up to caress my face, tucking my fallen crazy wet hair behind my ear. Then I saw it, it was like a light bulb went off in his head, "Bella, what were your dreams about? The ones that caused the fight with Edward" he asked quietly, he seemed afraid to bring up Edward, like it would snap me out of a trance.

I moved one hand to reassuringly stroke his cheek, he leaned into my touch. "Ever since I said goodbye to you after the new born battle, my dreams have been of nothing but you. I played out our life together in my dreams every night. One picking up where the other left off" I explained, he smiled brilliantly.

"Oh really, anything good?" he asked, his smile turning mischievous, I chuckled.

"You really wanna know?" I asked him. His smile turned genuine.

"Absolutely" he answered quietly.

I nodded and started to collect my thoughts, I shimmied my body down his so I could lie on his chest, his chin resting on my head. If the position was uncomfortable for him, he didn't say so.

"I saw everything Jake. I remember apologizing and begging for your forgiveness on Sunday night, oh and then you forgive me and we share the most amazing kiss. Monday night was our first date and being part of the pack family, it was funny, I felt just like Emily; cooking for all of the wolves, being another den mother and spending time with all the imprints. It was like the most comfortable thing in the world. Tuesday night was the marriage proposal, which of course I said yes and then I saw our wedding, I got to watch your face as I was walking down the aisle and say I do. Then Wednesday night I saw our first dance as a married couple and our honeymoon" I paused here to look up at his face, I wasn't sure if I was freaking him out or not. I didn't wasn't to push to far to fast.

He smirked at me, "the honeymoon huh? How was it?" he asked knowingly. My face felt very warm all of a sudden but I couldn't help my response, "it was amazing Jake" I whispered while lowering my head and placing it back on his chest. Wednesday nights dream really had been amazing; our bodies moved together so beautifully. Remembering made my whole body tingle and my face turn red.

He rubbed his hands up and down my back lovingly, I sat there in silent awe of the whole experience, I had never felt more loved then in this moment.

"Well, keep going. You still have three more days" he encouraged.

I smiled and continued, "Thursday…" I started but was overcome with emotion; I paused to take a deep breath. Secretly, Thursday's dream was my favorite, but I wasn't sure of his reaction. Jake wrapped his arms around me and lifted my chin up to look at him. "Bella, you aren't gonna scare me away with these dreams. Anything you could tell me you saw is something I guarantee I have thought about a million times and I want with you. Just tell me" he reassured again with a warm smile.

I looked into his eyes that held nothing but love, "in Thursday's dream. I was holding a positive pregnancy test and I was so happy that I couldn't stop smiling and crying. You found me sitting on our bed in crazy happy hysterics holding the test and you were so happy. You kept thanking me for giving you our life and kissing my stomach. We cried together" I explained, my eyes filling with tears. He wiped them away with his thumbs while his eyes filled with tears.

"Friday was me being very pregnant and you insanely happy, following me around and telling me I was beautiful every time I said I felt fat and gross. Thankfully I didn't witness labor but I watched you meet our first born child" I said with a big smile, which he returned.

"Boy or girl?" he asked, his voice oozing with love.

"Boy. The first born was a boy. But on Saturday night, he was about four years old and two little girls were there too. They were about two years old and I think they were twins. Oh Jake, I wish you could have seen them. They were beautiful. They were the perfect mix of our skin tones and had brown eyes and dark hair" Jacob caressed my face. We both seemed to be in awe of the situation. The scene played in both of our minds.

"We were out in front of this beautiful house, that I'm sure we built with the pack, and the five of us were playing around. You were chasing the little boy around while one girl was chasing you and the other was in my arms. We were so happy; it was like a fairy tale. But then I woke up to Edward yelling and throwing things. It all seemed to disappear the second I opened my eyes but I felt this emptiness left behind. This week has been hell; I looked forward to going to sleep, but I couldn't figure out why. Then Edward started describing what I had been saying in my sleep and it all hit me at once, I saw it all over again and I knew I couldn't stay there anymore" I finished, feeling better about getting everything off my chest.

We sat there in silence for a few minutes; it started to eat me alive quickly. I was so afraid of scaring him off, I couldn't take it anymore, "Jake please say something" I begged and he smiled.

"I want everything you dreamed about Bells. I can't wait to see everything you've seen. Our life together is going to be amazing". His voice held a layer of awe in it; he honestly wanted everything I just described to him; I was on cloud nine. I laid my head back down on his chest, relieved.

"Bells, can I ask you something?" I nodded against his chest.

"Anything" I vowed.

He paused for a minute, collecting his thoughts, "Why are you so surprised that I want what happened in your dreams?"

I smiled into his chest, "Jake, I am eighteen years old. When I went to bed last night I was engaged and preparing to become a vampire. You are a sixteen year old werewolf and we are talking about marriage and kids. It's a lot to handle so fast" I explained with a small giggle, I could feel his torso shake with silent laughter.

"You forgot the part where the universe decided that you were my soul mate. Oh and I may be sixteen but in a lot of ways I am older then you" he joked, "Bells, it's not going to happen tomorrow, but those are things I want for our future. Your dreams are my dreams and I am going to do everything in my power to make them happen for us" he promised.

"Thank you. I love you" I told him. I was touched by his explanation, but something was still off.

"I will never get used to hearing that. I love you too Bells" he moved to sit us up, I was still straddling his legs so I wrapped my arms around his neck and leaned back, he leaned his head down to kiss me.

I backed up quickly and he frowned, "Jake wait, that wasn't the question you wanted to ask me. I can feel it. Please tell me what it was".

"Damn Bella, you know me too well. I'm not gonna be able to kiss you until I answer am I?" he asked, his tone trying to joke with me, but something was still hanging over us.

I shook my head with a sly grin on my face. I would hold back even thought it killed me too. It's been one week since the most amazing kiss of my existence and I was definitely ready for a repeat performance, but we needed to be on the same page first.

"Are you sure Bella?"

I was taken off guard by his question. I wasn't quite sure what he was asking at first. Then it hit me; he wanted to know if I was sure about us, he thought I was going to change my mind.

I pressed my forehead to his "I have never been more sure about anything in my whole life. You're it for me" I answered with strength and he smiled. "Jake, I'm going to do everything in my power to make up for the pain I caused you. I never want to hurt you again" I promised.

He got to his feet and pulled me up with him before slowly leaning down to me. He pressed his forehead against mine lovingly, "Bella you here and you want to be with me, everything we have been through; all of the pain was all worth it because it led us to this moment". Wow this boy had a way with words, was all I could think before he softly pressed his lips to mine. His hands landed on my hips as mine linked behind his neck, pulling him closer. My lips parted slowly as I turned my head to the side, deepening the kiss and pressing my tongue to his. Our tongues caressed each other in the most heavenly way before the bedroom door swung open and the pack was standing outside of the room clapping for us.

I leaned back slightly and looked over at our friends; they all looked very happy for us. I removed myself from Jacob's embrace with a light blush highlighting my embarrassment. Jake stood behind me, wrapping his arms around me as I leaned into him like it was the most comfortable thing in the world.

"Great way to kill the moment guys, really thanks" Jake joked with his brothers.

Sam leaned against the door frame smiling widely, "sorry Jake but I felt it was time to break it up before the whole pack had to listen to you guys doing the naked tango on the floor in my house". My face turned red as a tomato at his words and the whole pack snickered.

"Yeah, we'll already see it in your mind after the fact, we don't need to hear it as its happening" Quil said through laughter. Jacob muzzled his face into my hair to hide from his friends.

I laughed at this, I couldn't help throwing my own joke back at them, "oh come on Quil, your just trying to cock block Jacob because you don't have anything scandalous to think about while on patrol" the whole room erupted into laughter, no one expected that from me. Jacob looked over at me slightly shocked before kissing my cheek.

Embry couldn't contain himself, "damn Quil, that was a Bella burn. Awesome".

We filed our way out of the bedroom and toward the kitchen where Emily was starting breakfast. The boys sat at the table, talking quietly about what they had over heard and how things had changed while I went to help Emily with breakfast.

She looked over at me with that small warm smile she was notorious for. "I'm really glad everything worked out for you and Jacob. When Sam told me this morning that he had already imprinted on you I called Jacob to get him over here before you woke up. He thought it would be a good idea to bring the pack as back up".

I looked over the bar into the dining room where Jacob sat with his pack; he winked at me before continuing his conversation with Sam and Jared. I went to work cracking eggs while Emily cooked the bacon and hash browns; we made enough to feed an army, or better yet a pack of wolves.

Just as we were placing the food on the table, Leah and Paul walked in the door. I couldn't help it; I froze when Leah's death glare landed on me.

"What's she going here?" Leah sneered. Paul looked over at me, finally noticing my presence.

"Wow, the leech lovers back" was all he said before he sat down with the rest of the pack to wolf down their breakfast.

Jacob looked up from the table and gave me a reassuring smile, "she's with me Leah. Please lay off" Jake asked her, she scoffed at him.

"Are you fucking kidding me? All you have done for the last week is bitch, wine, mope and complain about the situation this girl has put you in and now we are just going to welcome her back into the family like it's no big deal. She is marrying a leech for go sakes; she wants to become one so she can run off with his family and live her bloody fairy tale. This is bull shit" she ranted before walking back to the front door.

I had to set this straight, "Leah wait, look I know I fucked up" the whole pack gasped at my words, they had never heard me speak this way. "I made the wrong choice out of fear that Jake would imprint and I would be left broken and numb again. He told me this morning that he had imprinted on me. But before that I knew that, I ended it with Edward and was going to leave so I couldn't hurt him anymore. I'm so sorry for the hurt I caused Jacob and the entire pack over these last few months. I was wrong and I take full responsibility for my actions" I explained confidently. I wasn't going to let her talk down to me without knowing the whole story.

She turned to face me head on, her face portraying no emotion. It looked like she was evaluating me, staring me up and down. Then she held her hand out in front of herself to shake mine, I told it cautiously.

"Okay" was all she said.

She walked over to sit at the dining table where the shocked pack sat.  
"Okay?" I said, shocked being an understatement.

She shrugged, "what can I say? I respect people more when they stand up to me. I might not particularly like you, but at least now I respect you" she told us like it was common knowledge. I went back into the kitchen to eat my breakfast in a daze.

"Wow Bell, you sure do bring the drama don't you" Jared joked, breaking the tension.

"Yep, and unfortunately it's not over yet. Edward threatened her last night. It seems he's gone off the deep end. We gotta figure out a way to get Charlie to let her move onto our land" Sam told the pack. His topic of conversation seemed to turn breakfast into a pack meeting. I saw Jacob grow rigid at his words, he looked up at me.

"What did he say Bells?" he asked quietly.

"He told me that we would have our eternity. It sounded like a threat and a promise. Alice told me that he was in Alaska with another coven, so we have some time, but he will come back for me eventually" I told the pack. Sam nodded and went straight into Alpha mode.

"So, we need a reason for her to stay in La Push until this shit with Edward is figured out. It will be easier for us to protect her that way, but Charlie isn't going to like it" he explained.

Jared spoke first, "why don't we just tell him the truth. Charlie's a realistic guy, he'll understand. Plus him and Billy are going to be in laws in a few years, wouldn't it be easier if he was in on it".

Jake nodded, "Yeah, he's already suspicious of all the crazy shit going on. I can sense him trying to figure out what's different about us every time he's around".

Sam seemed to consider it. "We could but we would have to find a loop hole in Tribal law first otherwise the counsel will be all over our asses" he explained.

Leah looked over he shoulder at me, "Bella, what do you think?" she asked. Her direct question was startling; she was trying to include me in a pack decision. Leah was going out of her way to include me; I was momentarily speechless.

I sighed heavily, "I think he's gonna be pissed and really hung up on the whole 'everyone has been lying to me this whole time' issue and he's gonna hate me for even considering becoming a vampire and leaving everyone without a word, but he should know. I'll deal with those issues and hope the damage isn't too great. Now we just have to find the hoop hole".

Jacob walked over to me, pulling me back to his chair and setting me on his lap, "Bells he's not gonna hate you. He loves you. He's gonna be pissed but once you explained to him why you changed your mind, he will get over it" I couldn't help but notice the double meaning of who the "he" was in this conversation.

"Well I did some research in the tribe records after my first phase" Seth started to explain, Quil rolled his eyes, mumbling "of course you did" under his breath. Leah attempted to kick him under the table but missed and Embry jumped making the whole table jump with him.

"Ouch" Embry yelled while bending over to rub his leg. He looked over and punched Quil on the shoulder, "that was from Leah" he passed on. I couldn't help the giggle at their family dynamic, they really were like siblings.

"Anyways…" Jacob prompted. Seth nodded, "I remember reading something about an outsider becoming an honorary counsel member, but they had to have some kind of permanent connection to the tribe" he recalled.

Sam nodded along, "yeah I remember that. They have to be voted on by the whole pack and the majority of the counsel, that shouldn't be hard. Then Charlie has to agree to hold a counsel position. Seth is right though, there has to be a permanent connection between him and the tribe" he looked over at me and Jake.

I didn't understand, "more permanent than an imprint?" I asked cautiously.

Seth locked eyes with me, "a marriage is normally what's considered permanent; at least one of our ceremonies".

So in order to tell my dad that I am being hunted by my vampire ex-fiancé, I have to marry my boyfriend of one day, who is also my soul mate and best friend. Yep this day just got that much more complicated. I guess at this point it really didn't matter, I mean I was already going to marry young, now it's just not the same groom. And this time I would be marrying my guaranteed soul mate who I love more than I ever loved Edward. I think I started drowning in my thoughts because I didn't return to the present until I heard Jacob's voice slowly getting louder. By the look on his face he had called me a few times and he was getting worried.

I smiled at him as reassuringly as I could manage but he didn't look to be doing any better than I was. "Bella, a Quileute wedding ceremony isn't recognized by law, just by the tribe. It would mostly be like a promise ceremony, we would promise ourselves to each other with the intention of marrying legally later in life" he explained and I visibly relaxed.

Embry brought us back to the subject of importance, "so that is something you guys can discuss later and get back to us about. What I'm more interested in is what to expect from Edward and that situation. What can you tell us Bella?"

The whole room's attention was once again placed on me but for once it didn't bug me. I wasn't intimidated or shy. These people were quickly becoming my family and I knew the information I held would definitely help them protect me and each other. "Edward's never suffered through rejection before; he doesn't know what to make of me walking away from him. When I left, I literally witnessed him breaking. He's not the same person. All I could see in his eyes was rage, shock and pain. He will probably come after me; try to kidnap me so he can change me somewhere against my will, and try to kill Jacob for taking me away from him" I looked over my shoulder at Jacob who started to rub my back comfortingly and kissed my cheek.

The wheels in my head were still turning; some other pieces were coming together. "He is going to try and pull a Victoria" I realized, not noticing that I said that out loud.

"You mean another army?" Paul asked quickly, already shaking with rage.

I shook my head violently, "No, he's in Denali. That's the first place he ran. He is looking for backup to use as a distraction. Irina already hates all of you because of Laurent. Tanya's been in love with Edward for years and would probably do anything for his affection and Kate would probably go along with it because of her sisters. I don't know about the other three in the coven though. I thought he was just going there for refuge, but he's recruiting help".

I was rather impressed with myself for my out-of-the-box thinking and the pack seemed to be impressed too, but I was past the point of paying attention. "Sam, we need to set up a meeting with the Cullen's. Alice might know more and Carlisle might be able to nip this in the bud by calling Kate" I informed, jumping into action. He nodded and I walked off to call Alice, this needed to be done soon before everything got out of hand.

* * *

A/N: Okay Chapter two is complete. Please let me know what you think. Reviews are greatly appreciated. Thank you all- Ashley


	3. The First Day

I spent at least an hour on the phone with Alice that morning. The little pixie sure does get distracted easily. Only about ten minutes of the conversation was about Edward and the meeting that needed to take place between the Cullen's and the pack. Then it was all about me and Jake. Alice is always the gossip queen I guess, and believe me she wanted the gossip.

"Okay Bella, so how's Jacob? I know your future disappeared, but how are things going? Is he a good kisser?" Alice rambled. At this point I had barely paying attention; but the second I heard Jake's name, my ears perked up. I looked over to him, still talking quietly with Sam. He paused for a second to give me a knowing smile. Obviously he could hear everything going on in this phone conversation. "Alice, we have been together for all of two hours. We can have this conversation in a week okay?" I reasoned, she wanted to know the progress of a relationship that has barely started, she really was crazy.

Alice giggled, "Okay then. In a week I'll be able to hear about the sex so that sounds like a great compromise". Jakes ears really perked up at that; he sent me a mischievous smile that no one in the room missed and I shook my head disbelievingly. "I'll see you in the morning Alice" I mumbled quickly and hung up the phone before she could protest.

I remembered something I had heard Edward say right before graduation; he couldn't understand how someone so small could be so annoying. I laughed quietly to myself as I walked back to the table where Jacob, Sam and Emily still were.

"What's so funny?" Jacob asked, grabbing my hand under the table and rubbing circles on it. I think he thought I was laughing at the idea of having sex in the same week we got together; that really wasn't something I wanted to think about yet, let alone laugh about.

"Oh nothing, Alice just reminded me of something Edward had said one time" I explained, the whole room stiffened. No one really knew what to make of my small trip down memory lane; I caught Jacob's worried look out of the corner of my eye. "He just said something about how he couldn't understand how someone that small could be so annoying; he really did hit the nail on the head there" no one really relaxed and it aggravated me.

I sighed, "Look I'm sorry about bringing it up, but Edward was my life for a whole year. He pops into my head every once in a while. Ya know, the person he used to be before he held my up against a wall, bruised my wrist and threatened me with an eternity or damnation" I reasoned, there demeanor finally changing.

Jake broke the silence, "so other than the annoyance, how did the conversation with the vampire fairy go?"

I shrugged, "they want to meet with us tomorrow morning at there house. That will give Alice enough time to try and see what's going on with Edward and Carlisle enough time to call Kate and see if he can do any damage control." I really didn't think Carlisle was going to be talking the Denali sisters out of anything if Edward had already persuaded them to help, but it was a shot, a shot we needed to take.

"And if he can't pull off any damage control?" Sam asked, weighting possible outcomes.

"Then the Cullen's are willing to take out anyone who comes after me" I used Alice's exact words, knowing that they included Edward in that category. The wolves at the table nodded together, mimicking exact movements. Emily and I giggled lightly and they halted all movement.

"Well Bells, since you are once again in fatal danger" Jake tried to joke; I glared at him, "Sorry. I was just going to suggest that since we know this threat is in Alaska for the time being, why don't we go to the beach and enjoy the bonfire the pack is putting together for tonight" he explained.

I leaned my head on his shoulder and he wrapped his arm around me, "that sounds like a great way to spend a today. The weather is bright and sunny finally. But can we go up to my house and get me some clothes first?" The weather had turned out beautifully. The rain had stopped about an hour after my dramatic escape attempt and the ground was drying up by the hot sun rather quickly. It was the perfect day to lounge around in a bathing suit on the beach.

Jake smiled, "sure honey. We should probably get going though, I promised the guys I would come by and help with the set up of the fire pit". He took my hand and we made our way towards the door, saying good bye to Sam and Emily on our way out the door. Emily called out to me before I made it out the door, "Bella, why don't you bring enough clothes for a few days. I'm gonna call Charlie and see if I can borrow you for a while. That way it gives us some time to figure out what to do about you being here permanently." The girl really was a genius. We had all forgot to deal with figuring out a way to keep me in La Push until we figured out what to do about Charlie and the counsel issue. This would be a temporary fix, but it got us somewhere, and it kept me safe.

I nodded back to her. "I'll call him right now and explain. Don't worry, I already have an excuse. We'll see you guys later" she shooed us out the door with a smile. Jacob and I made it back to Charlie's house in Forks in about forty five minutes; the truck seemed to be getting slower. Jake complained for the first ten minutes of the journey; he decided that my truck would be a project of his while I was living with Sam and Emily.

As we walked in the door the phone rang. "Hello?" I answered.

"Hey Bells. Emily told me to call you. She says she needs your help with her niece that she will be watching until Thursday so I told her it was up to you. I didn't know if you had any Edward plans or whatever but I assume you are already in on this plan. I just wanted to let you know it's okay with me" he explained. He said Edwards name like a disease and I couldn't help but giggle, "Thanks Dad. I talked to her this morning and she told me she would love my help with Claire. I don't have any Edward plans or whatever" I mimicked him and he chuckled. I was about to make his day, "In fact, I won't be having any Edward plans. Like ever. We broke up last night" I told him. I could practically see the smile on his face through the phone.

"Ha, your kidding me? So much for that proposal" he sounded ecstatic, for a few seconds, until he noticed my silence. He coughed to cover up his joy, "I mean, are you okay Bella? What happened?" he sounded concerned all of a sudden, obviously afraid of a reappearance of zombie Bella.

"Yeah Dad, I'm great. I broke up with him. My heart really wasn't his anymore. Some damage just can't and shouldn't be fixed" I reassured, I heard him exhale through the phone, obviously relieved.

He chuckled, "have you told Jacob yet? He is going to be ecstatic". Jacob's booming laughter echoed through the house causing Charlie to laugh through the phone. "Yep he knows. We just came to the house to pack up some stuff and then we are heading to a bonfire on the beach" I explained.

"Well okay Bells. I'll let you go back to your day. Oh and just so you know, Billy and I are fishing this weekend, we will leave Friday afternoon and come back Sunday night. I would feel better if you stayed with Emily until I got home as long as that is okay with her. It slipped my mind on the phone. Can you ask her and call me tomorrow?"

"Yeah sure Dad. I'll call you tomorrow. Love you"

"Love you too Bells. Be safe". I blushed as I hung up the phone, that farewell really did have a double meaning. Whether it was intended or not I was unsure. I looked over and noticed Jake had disappeared.  
"Jake?" I called out.

"Up here Bells" he yelled from my room. I walked up the stairs and found him sprawled out on my bed, looking extremely comfortable. "So it turns out our Dad's are fishing this weekend and Dad pawned me off on Emily until Sunday" I explained, he looked excited.

"Well that's cool. A whole week of just us. Sounds great" Jacob said.

"It gets better, Emily doesn't know that our Dad's are leaving so that means I am free to bunk where ever I choose over the weekend" I told him with a smirk, his own mischievous smile answered.

"So does that mean I am going to have my beautiful new girlfriend sharing a bed with me this weekend?" he asked hopefully.

"Jake, if you play your cards right, you could be sharing a bed with me all week. I doubt Sam would nark on you and we both know Billy doesn't care. We could share the spare bed" I teased while bending over in front of my closet and grabbing my suitcase. He eyes followed my every movement. Before I knew what was happening, he had my suitcase placed open on the bed and my back pushed up against the wall, his rock hard body pushed into me. His forehead pushed heatedly into mine. My whole body seemed to be on fire, and it wasn't just because of his heightened body temperature.

"Do you have any idea what you do to me?" he asked huskily. I shivered at his words. I definitely wasn't used to this; he saw my sudden shock and backed off immediately. "I'm sorry, I just…" he started but I held my finger up to his lips, silencing him.

"Jake, don't apologize. I'm sorry I came off shocked; I'm just not used to being desired for something other than my blood. The intimacy thing is just going to take some getting used to. I'm used to getting pushed away, not pulled closer. It's not you okay?" I reassured, he softened at my words. He took both of my hands and interlaced our fingers.

"I just don't want to come off like I'm pressuring you. To be completely honest, I desire you in every way imaginable. But you control the boundaries on that part of our relationship okay? You let me love you finally; that's good enough for me" he explained with a small chuckle. I could tell he was fibbing; he is a teenage boy after all. His hormones are screaming at him for sex all day every day, it was just going to take a little bit of time for mine to catch up and get comfortable with the new situation.

"I promise you the boundaries won't be in place for long. Just until things between us get a little more comfortable on this level. I will be jumping you soon enough" I teased while walking back over to my closet. I started grabbing garments without looking back at him; I already knew his expression was shocked from my confession.

I finally looked over at him about five minutes later and he was still frozen in the middle of my room. "Jake are you okay?" I asked coyly. He smiled, "that has got to be one of the sexiest promises I have ever heard. God, I love you Bells" he murmured while coming up behind me and wrapping his arms around me from behind. He picked the perfect time too because I was standing at my dresser pulling out different sets of bra's and panties from my top drawer. He placed a kiss on my neck before saying, "definitely bring the black lace. I'm a fan" he teased. I elbowed him in the ribs, effectively bruising myself. I unraveled myself from him and took my undergarments to the suitcase. "Sounds like I'm going to need to wear those under tight jeans so you can see the strap over my jeans whenever they slip. 'Cause that's as close as your getting for a while" I continued to tease, he groaned at me.

After another hour of packing, I walked back out to the truck with Jacob carrying my suitcase. It felt good to wear shorts and a tank top; the sun hitting my skin was a feeling I definitely missed when I was hiding out at Edward's house because of there sparkling issue.

Jake and I piled back into the truck and made it to the beach within the hour. I was excited to finally be placed back in a positive environment. Jacob and I still hadn't talked about much but one think I really needed to talk to him about was what was going on with me when I was fighting my feelings for him, especially the time between the newborn battle and last night. It was important for Jake to know that I wasn't here specifically because Edward went off the deep end and threatened me but because he was my first choice.

We walked hand in hand down the beach carrying a cooler full of lunch and a beach bag full of my stuff. Once we found the pack Jake kissed my forehead and ran ahead to help with the bonfire like he promised. I laid out our blanket on the sand over by where the girls were hanging out. All the imprints were present, Rachel, Emily and Kim in there tight nit group, while Leah chose to hang out on the sidelines. Leah wasn't paying attention though, she was too busy watching Quil play with Claire down in the water, right where the waves hit the shore. I looked between Leah and the scene she was watching and giggled, Leah was actually smiling; she seemed carefree and happy for the first time since I met her.

"Oh quit looking at me like that Bell. I'm not completely heartless; I have a soft spot for kids" she joked at me.

"Which one? Claire or Quil?" I joked back. We looked at each other for the first time and started laughing. We laughed harder when we heard Quil yell "hey" at me from down the beach. He retaliated by picking up a soaking wet Claire and running toward me with her; he pushed the toddler up against me so she soaked my clothes. I continued to laugh uncontrollably. "Bewa" Claire yelled at me when she noticed whose arms she was in.

I put on my biggest smile, "Hi Claire Bear. I missed you" she wrapped her arms around my neck and kissed my cheek. I spun around once and she squealed, "yeah Bewa". Just then Jacob walked out of the woods holding a large pile of wood, his eyes immediately locked with mine and then the child in my arms, he smiled brightly. Claire caught my attention again by yelling "Unca Jay" over to Jacob. He dropped the wood in the fire pit and came running over to us. He scooped the child up out of my arms and threw her up in the air making her squeal again. I watched Jake react to Claire with utter fascination; he was naturally good with kids, no awkwardness in sight. Quil cleared his throat behind me, I turned around to see him giving me and Jacob a knowing smile, "Oh I can't wait for your guy's future" he said while walking over to Jake, he handed him Claire and they walked back down the beach to the water.

Jacob walked over to me and wrapped his arms around me, "I can't wait for our future either" he whispered. I smiled up at him, "yeah, just think, we will be having kids when Claire will be old enough to babysit them". He leaned his forehead against mine, "sounds great" he murmured, making me shiver.

He kissed me quickly; he seemed thoughtful when he pulled away, "you look different Bells. You look happier" he revealed, his forehead still against mine.

"Well Jake, that's because I am happier than I have been in years. And it's all because of you" he closed his eyes, soaking up my words.

"Wow, are we really here? Or am I gonna wake up in my bed in a minute alone and pissed off?"

I kissed him one more time, "nope. It's real and I can prove it. Ready?" he nodded against my head. I unwrapped myself from his hold and walked back over to our blanket. Then without saying a word I started to undo my jean shorts and let them fall to the blanket; seconds later I pulled my t-shirt over my head, leaving me in nothing but a skimpy black string bikini. My mom had bought it for me when I went to Jacksonville with Edward but I could never bring myself to wear it until today, Jake was like my own personal confidence boost. I heard wolf whistles behind me but my attention couldn't be diverted from Jacob's expression.

We was literally frozen, his eyes the only part of him moving, (on purpose). He scanned my body for a few seconds with his mouth slowly hung open. "Jake, honey, close your mouth. You're gonna catch flies" I teased while putting my finger to his chin and closing his mouth. A devilish look crossed his face, while he pulled his shirt off revealing his beautifully sculpted copper colored chest and abs. He was perfection. Without saying a word, he wrapped his arms back around my waist and lifted me up pulling my body flush against his. "Bells, I don't know about you" he started running to the water at human speed while I kicked and squealed trying to get away dry, "but I need to cool off" and with that he threw me into the break, the waves rolling over me and drenching me from head to toe. I remained under water for a second, making sure my suit was still in place and rose out of the waist high deep water, looking straight out of the pool scene from _Fast Times at Ridgemont High_, well, minus the part where she takes her top off. Jakes jaw hit the ground again and most of the wolves on the beach went quiet.

I couldn't help it anymore, I laughed so hard that I plopped back down in the water. Jacob was sitting in front of me before I could catch my breath again. "Damn Bells, you are making this whole keeping my hands off you thing really hard. That was so hot. Not to mention, that bathing suit looks just like the bra and panty set I picked out this morning"

"For the record Jake, I never said you had to keep your hands off me" I started and he perked up, grabbing my legs and wrapping them around his waist. My center brushed against his bulge and I shivered, stifling a moan. His hand rubbed up and down my bare back, underneath the black string holding my top in place. "B-But, it's probably not a good idea to be continuing this with the entire pack sitting on the beach watching us. Including Claire, a child, and Rachel, you sister," I stuttered, unsuccessfully convincing him to slow down. My whole body was aware of every line and curve of his body, he was driving me crazy and he wasn't even trying yet.

He leaned forward and started kissing up and down my neck while his hand traveled down to my ass. He squeezed lightly. I couldn't help it anymore, I moaned out his name, "Jake. Oh, god…we have to stop".

He backed away from me slightly but his arms were still wrapped around me and my legs around him. He calmed down, "I'm sorry, you're just driving crazy" his voice was husky with want and it caused me to shiver again.

"Don't apologize. Believe me, the feeling is mutual" he seemed shocked by my confession. "Really?" he asked. The hesitance in his voice made my pulse race, "oh thank god. You're still a virgin" I whispered, not really meaning to say that out loud.

He laughed, "Yeah. They have been calling me blue balls in the pack lately 'cause I crave you so much but I wasn't even talking to you at the time. They thought it was funny that I was craving a feeling that I had never experienced before. It's been hell" he joked before his expression became serious.

"Bells, in the back of my mind, I was always waiting for you. There is no other girl I could see, even when I was pissed at you, I still couldn't see anyone else." I exhaled loudly, relieved to my very core.

Jake stiffened for a minute, "Bella…" he was starting to ask but I cut him off.

I pushed my forehead back to his, "no one will ever have me the way you will. All I ever did with _him_ was kiss" I whispered. It was his turn to be relieved.

"How did you know that I was still…?" he ran off at the end of his question. He didn't seem to realize that I could read him like my favorite book.

I giggled, "You were surprised that I wanted you the way you wanted me. If you had already been with someone, your ego would be the size of Texas by now. Especially with how hot you are. It would definitely come with a confidence boost; and I wouldn't have to tell you that my body lights on fire every time you touch me. You would already know" my voice thickened with want towards the end of my explanation, I felt him shiver.

He chuckled, "the pack is getting restless watching us out here. I can hear Quil and Embry bitching from here. Remind me to kick their asses' later okay?"

"Why are you…?" I asked looking back up and the beach.

"I can hear their conversation. They are showing about as much appreciation for you bathing suit as I am" he explained. I felt my whole face turn tomato red, "okay I think I made my statement. I should go put some clothes back on now". I unwrapped myself from Jake and started walking back to the beach, Jake close behind.

I heard Quil and Embry snicker as I walked past them. I wrapped myself in a towel and went to stand in front of them. I heard Leah call out "$20.00 on Bella". Emily, Rachel and Kim all nodded in agreement.

The group laughed. Paul spoke up, "based on verbal come backs? Ugh, I'll take that bet. Embry and Quil are like the dream team of jokes and insults when they set their minds to it". Sam, Jared and Seth agreed quickly. Seems we had a battle of the sexes on our hands. They all threw their twenty dollar bills at Leah.

Leah continied to laugh, "You have to have a mind to put it to something". The group laughed harder.

Quill spoke up first, "Damn Bella. If I knew you looked that amazing when you showed some skin, I would have pursued you from day 1" he stood up to try and intimidate me. I wasn't gonna let that happen. I dropped my towel and watched his mouth drop with it.

"Oh please Quil, the awkward skinny teenager with the quick lip is so played out by now. Plus, even when I was fucked up when the leech left, I was still checking out Jake when he wasn't looking" I looked over at Jake and winked at him. He blushed a tiny bit and it made my heart melt.

Quil snorted, "baby, you give me an hour and I will show you how not skinny and awkward I can be".

It was my turn to snort, "Okay hold on, let me go to the drug store real quick and get a few magazines to occupy the other fifty five minutes you won't be occupying". The whole group roared. I could see Jake's shocked expression from the corner of my eye. Embry made no move to help his floundering friend.

"Girls, you're splitting that money with me" I called; Leah laughed and yelled back "for sure". I never stopped trying to stare down Quil. He didn't seem to be giving up.

"You know Bella, you seem to be seriously frustrated since you got with blue balls over here" he pointed to Jake who growled at his friend, "maybe you should upgrade wolves" he moved closer into my face.

I laughed, "See I would but I've over heard a few conversations with the imprints and Leah, who by the way has seen everything all of you have to offer, and I was informed that I got the pick of the litter" all the girls were rolling on the ground by this time. Jacob had turned a lovely pink color under his russet skin for a second, then he called "and the winner is…"

The whole pack yelled "Bella" at the top of their lungs. I couldn't help it; I doubled over laughing, leaning against Jake for support. Quil sat back down next Embry, "wow thanks for the help their dude" he bitched. Embry shrugged, "Sorry, I don't fight battles that can't be won. I know Bella has the ability to be ruthless when she wants, but she surpassed my expectation. Nice job Bell".

"Thanks Em, but the next time you see me in a bathing suit, keep your opinions to yourself. Both of you" I reprimanded both of them. They chuckled, "yes Ma'am".

Leah distributed the girl's winnings evenly and we went back to easy conversation and relaxing on the beach. I didn't end up covering myself up after my throw down with Quill; I was enjoying Jake's lingering stares far too much to put my clothes back on. I decided to lie out and try to get some sun with the girls while the boys played some football.

Emily nudged me later before whispering, "Did you really hear us comparing the boys in the pack like that?" I started to laugh uncontrollably again, "no, I just made it up. I just assumed that since Jacob was the buffest guy and biggest wolf, that it wouldn't be a horrible guess. But judging by the look on your face, I hit the nail right on the head" she gave me a devilish smile before Rachel jumped in "Oh for god sakes, will you please stop taking about my little brother's package" she begged loudly.

I felt weight next to me on my blanket. Jake dropped down next to me on his back, his hands behind his head making his muscles ripple, "You talking about my equipment again baby?"

I blushed before rolling over onto my side, perching my head on my elbow, "yeah, you got a problem with that?" I challenged.

He howled a laugh which the rest of the pack mimicked. "Nope, it doesn't bug me. But if you keep it up I'm going to drag you back to my empty house and give you a personal tour of it" he taunted back. I was bright red now and tingly everywhere. Then I heard, "Jacob Ephraim Black, what would our parents say if he heard you talk that way?"Rachel yelled at him. I chuckled.

Jared answered first, "Billy would say 'right on, it's about time'".

Leah continued his thought, "and Aunt Sarah would say 'oh get a room'" she pulled out her best Sarah Black impression that had Rachel smiling and Jacob's eyes sparkling.

Rachel seemed lost in thought then, "In fact, the fact that you two are together would probably make her giddy. She always said they were soul mates; from the sand box. Or in the case of these two, the mud puddle" everyone chuckled. I stared into Jacob's eyes, mine clouding up with my tears. He thumbed them away, "she's right you know. My mom always called it with us. She was so sure" I saw a single tear roll down his cheek but his smile never wavered. I leaned forward and kissed the tear away.

Embry stood up just then, "Hey Bella, aren't those your friends from Forks high?"

I looked up over Jacob and saw Mike, Eric, Angela, Jessica and Lauren walking toward us on the beach.

"Hey Jake, can you hand me my shirt?" he gave me a questioning look but quickly handed me my t-shirt. I threw it on and started walking towards them, I could see Mike's disappointment from here and he was still a hundred feet down the beach. Jacob grabbed my hand, "hey that Mike guy is a prick, maybe you should put your shorts on too". I laughed at him but quickly threw on my shorts; Mike's frown deepened. Jake growled lowly and took my hand.

Angela ran up to me and threw her arms around me, "Bella, I missed you". The whole crew rallied around the pale faced newbie's.

"I missed you too Ang. Here let me introduce all of you" I set out to make all of the introductions, being as nice as I possibly could even though Jessica and Lauren were acting like kids in a candy store, looking at the pack, there main focus being on Jacob. I saved the last introduction for after the group thinned out a little bit, I had a gut feeling about these two people. She maneuvered Angel in front of Embry. Jake and I watched closely as I introduced them, "Embry, this is my best friend from Forks Angel Weber. Angela this is Jacob's best friend Embry Call".

I watched as Embry's eyes lit up the second they locked with hers. Angela smiled at him as she quietly reached out to shake his hand. Jake and I slowly backed away when we saw that they were talking and flirting. We walked away hand in hand, "that was very nice what you just did for Embry. He feels like he's less of a wolf because he hadn't imprinted. How did you know she would be it?"

"I didn't. I just thought they would get along and their personalities would compliment each other" I shrugged.

"Well, I have a feeling Embry is gonna be indebted to you for a very long time for bringing her to him".

"I have a feeling that having a wolf owe me a favor could definitely come in handy later" I smirk at the possibilities.

Just then we heard Jessica and Lauren gossiping loudly a little ways down the beach on the other side of a bunch of rocks, "So it looks like Edward Cullen finally kicked her to the curb" Lauren quipped happily.

"Last I heard he was marrying her and now she's here all over that amazingly sexy Jacob Black. I don't understand what these hot guys see in her" Jessica contemplated while Lauren made disgusted noises.

"She probably got knocked up and Edward finally found out that the baby is going to a dark skinned with black hair instead of albino with hazel eyes" Lauren rambled.

I was pissed; I was so upset I could feel the tears building up behind my eyes. Jacob put his hands on my shoulders trying to comfort me, but I couldn't notice. These bitches were about to get a piece of my mind. I walked away from Jake to the other side of the rock were the girls were perched.

Jessica looked up at me and plastered on a fake smile while Lauren just smirked, probably knowing I had heard everything she had said. "Oh hi Bella" she said while looking past me over to Jacob, she looked right through me.

"Oh cut the fake shit you pathetic little brat. You and Lauren have been nothing but vile and rude to me since the second Edward left. I shut my mouth and let it go because I didn't want to deal with confrontation but this is fucking ridiculous. All you two ever care about is talking people down so you feel better about your own miserable lives. But come on lets be honest, the real reason I am always picked as the target is because Edward, or Jacob for that matter, never even gave you a second glance. Rejection really is the burn that lasts forever isn't it? Well find some fucking ointment and grow the fuck up. You aren't in high school anymore. Maybe you should drop the stupid bitch acts. They get old real quick." I yelled at them for what seemed like hours before I stormed away, closely followed by Jake.

When we got back to the group the fire was raging and the group was talking animatedly about anything and everything. All the pack members with the werewolf super hearing gave me knowing looks and thumbs up when no one was looking. I returned them with genuine smiles as I settled down sitting in between Jake's legs on our blanket. He wrapped me in his warm arms and I felt all of my anger and frustration melt away.

He started kissing my neck, right by my ear. "You know you standing up for yourself back there was really sexy Bells" he whispered while he took my earlobe in between his teeth, nibbling it softly. My whole body was aware of all of Jacob again. I turned my head to the side, "I'm sorry they brought you into all of their gossip. That's not fair" I apologized. He put his hand over my mouth gently, "Bella if it makes it around the Rez that you are pregnant with my baby, that doesn't bug me. We both know that it's not true so it doesn't matter what everyone else thinks. Plus the idea of people thinking you are pregnant with my baby is kind of thrilling. It just makes the possibility that more real. It makes me look forward to the future even more" Jake explained.

The fact that is didn't bug him was really amazing to me, any other guy would be freaked out while Jacob embraced it, maybe even encouraged it. "You are one strange male Jacob Black" I declared. He laughed, "baby if you are just now figuring that out then we should probably go get your head examined" he joked.

We laughed for a few minutes before he started tickling me in front of everyone. I laughed and begged for him to stop but he kept it up until I screamed, "okay mercy. I admit I'm just as strange as you are". The whole pack looked over at me and started howling with laughter, the idea of a human girl declaring she was as strange as a werewolf really was comical to them, mostly because it was true.

The sun was setting and the temperature was dropping quickly so I got up, untangling myself from Jacob's hold. He pouted for a second, sticking his lip out in the cutest way. I acted without really thinking; I dropped to my knees on the blanket, leaned forward and gently bit his lip before kissing him passionately. I heard cat calls and wolf whistles from people around the fire but I didn't back away. I lightly licked the bottom of his lip asking him to part his. He did and our tongues explored. After a few minutes, I started to hear disgusted noises, some joking and some not. Rachel yelled, "Geeze guys, get a room already". I smiled into the kiss; I could hear her smile in her statement. Then I heard Lauren and Jess from their blanket, I hadn't realized they had re-joined the group. Lauren loudly whispered, "see, she's obviously insecure about being with him. That's why she has to claim him in front of everyone".

That's when Jacob pulled away from me, visibly pissed off. "Wow you two really are bitter hags. Bella claimed me when we were kids, she just didn't know it yet. And as for insecurity, she never has anything to worry about. I've been in love with her my whole life, that's not gonna change". He started his rebuttal as an insult but as his words got sweeter, his eyes locked onto mine in the most loving trance imaginable. That statement was him claiming me; in front of the pack and the imprints and my Forks friends who didn't understand anything about the love we shared. I could feel it in the way that he laced our fingers together while speaking, and how as soon as his glare left Lauren and Jessica, he looked over at me with a smile full of wonder and love. We stared at each other in silence for a few minutes before we heard Rachel say to Lauren and Jessica, "I think it's time you girls leave now. You have done enough damage to their happiness on there first day as a couple". Her voice held some kind of authority, like she really was the chief's daughter. The girls didn't say anything as they grabbed their things and walked off toward the parking lot.

Mike stood up looking over at Eric, "yeah it's getting late. I think we are going to head out too" they said goodbye to everyone and started picking up things. Eric went to walk down the beach when Mike yelled, "hold on a minute I'll catch up". He ran back over to us, "hey Bella, can I talk to you for a minute" he asked. I felt Jacob's grasp on me tighten for a second before he let me go. I turned around, kissed his cheek and walked over to talk with Mike, definitely still within hearing distance of the pack.

"Hey Mike what's up?" I was visibly uncomfortable being alone with him, he was a good friend but he had never wanted to be my friend.

"Hey Bella, I just wanted to tell you that I don't know what happened with Edward but I'm sorry if you got hurt in the break up" he seemed genuinely concerned for me.

"Oh no Mike. I'm okay. I ended it with Edward because I was in love with Jacob. I just couldn't fight it anymore. Jake is my future" I explained. He gave a small smile.

"That's great Bella. He is absolutely crazy about you. I've known that since our disastrous movie trip. I knew for sure I didn't have a shot with you after that" he chuckled.

"I'm sorry, but I'll always be your friend. As long as you don't get back with Jessica. You deserve better than that bitch" I joked. He really smiled then.

"Haha, why do you think I broke up with her? But anyways, I'm really happy for you Bella. You're more happy and confident then I have seen since you got here. Just promise to send me an invite to the wedding? I promise not to object" he joked then he muttered, "loudly".

I laughed; he really was being a really good friend about all of this. "Thanks Mike" I leaned forward and hugged him quickly. He didn't try to prolong it, which I greatly appreciated.

"Be happy Bella. I'll see you around." He walked away waving for a second, I went over to find my bag and throw on some warm clothes quickly. I scanned the area to make sure no one was around to see me then I started changing. I put on a big sweatshirt, untying my bathing suit top underneath it and pulling it off. I put my bra on underneath my sweatshirt, just like how I perfected during summer camp when I was in Phoenix. Then I wrapped myself in a towel and pulled off my shorts and suit bottoms. I looked over my shoulders and saw Jake had come looking for me. I pulled on my lace thong underwear underneath the towel and then let the towel drop. I could feel his eyes on me and it was exhilarating. I bent over my bag to pull out my sweat pants and pulled them on quickly. Jake was behind me in a second, "that was just mean Bella" he whispered in my ear as he pushed his chest against my back. I could feel his hard on push into my backside.

I couldn't think of a comeback, he was clouding up my thought process. I bent back over to throw my suit, clothes and beach towel back into my bag. He was definitely staring at my ass right now; some fantasy had to be in his head because I heard him groan. "If you aren't careful woman, I am going to throw you over my shoulder and run us somewhere. A hotel or something and I'll never let you go" his hands made his way to my hips as he spoke. I shivered and looked devilishly at him over my shoulder before I stood back up.

"Wow, you males are so predictable. I could practically see the fantasy rolling through your head like a movie" I snickered and his eyes got wide. He was shocked for a second before he regained his mischievous smile, "oh really, and what fantasy was that?" he asked.

I moved around to face him, pressing my body up against his and whispering in his ear, "I could see you thinking about bending me over in your bed; me death gripping your headboard while you take me from behind. You could practically hear me screaming your name. Am I wrong?" I asked before I moved away from him, walking back over to sit by the fire with Emily, a satisfied smirk on my face. Jacob disappeared for a little while after that. I sat with Emily on one side and Embry on my other. Embry didn't even acknowledge my presence, he was to busy talking to Angela. They were laughing and flirting. I was definitely proud of myself for tonight. I got Embry and Angela together, stood up for myself against Lauren and Jess and drove my very hot boyfriend crazy with my new found confidence.

Emily looked over at me, her eyes filled with subtle wonder. "Wow, it's amazing what the two of you have done for each other. I have never scene you or Jake so happy" she told me. I smiled widely. Then Sam spoke up, "yeah and I've never seen you so confident and Jake so horny. He is going to have us all screwing like bunnies until you guys finally hook up". I turned bright red but couldn't help but laugh. All of the imprinted wolves, except for Quil, snickered at Sam's words. There was going to be a lot mating and blue balls within the pack while Jacob was sharing his sexually frustrated thoughts with them. I couldn't contain my laughter anymore and all the girls joined in, knowing where my thought process went.

Then Sam looked at me seriously, "okay Bell, I heard about you and Jake wanting to stay together in my back bedroom while you are staying with us and that's okay with me. But keep in mind that I have really good hearing and, even though our bedroom and the guest room are on separate ends of the house, I will still hear you if I am awake "he warned. My blush grew deeper than ever before, I opened my mouth to stutter out a response when Jake walked out of the woods and back over to us, "oh come on Sam. Give her a break. At this rate her face is going to be permanently red" he chuckled.

He came back over to the fire and sat on our blanket, his eyes staring mischievously at me from across the fire. I smirked back and looked over at Embry and Angela. Angela looked behind Embry to see me smiling at them; she gave me that widest grin I have ever seen on her. I heard her say "Embry, I'll be right back. I wanna talk to Bella for a second" before she grabbed my hand and started to pull me down the beach. After a few hundred feet of beach had been put between us and the group, she started hugging me and jumping around, "thank you, thank you, thank you" she yelled. I laughed at her display, "I'm glad you like him Ang. Embry is a great guy".

"Like him? Oh my god. He's perfect. He's sweet and shy at first but then you talk to him and he's funny and confident. He is gorgeous. He isn't intimidated by the fact that I'm smart. He likes to read, just don't tell Jake and the guys, he has great taste in music. I'm torn between taking him home to meet my parents and just jumping his bones" she beamed. I was really happy for her; Angela had been heart broken since her boy friend Ben had ended things with them because he was leaving for college. She deserved a good guy like Embry.

Angela finally calmed down enough to continue a conversation, "So when did the Jake thing become official? You look really happy".

"Thanks Ang. I am really happy. I broke up with Edward last night. I just kinda realized that he wasn't who I thought he was. I was getting pressured into things I didn't want yet, like marriage, and I couldn't stop thinking about Jake and the life I wanted with him. I just didn't want to stay with Edward anymore, the damage had been done months ago and I had been ignoring it, hoping things would go back to the way they were but knowing they never would. I left his house and showed up on Emily's door step at one in the morning and Jacob was their when I woke up later that morning. We have been attached at the hip ever since" I explained. It sucked knowing that I couldn't tell Angela the whole story, but after things settled down with her and Embry, she would be in on everything and I could come clean about the missing pieces of my story.

We walked back to the fire a little while late. I walked over to the blanket and sat next to Jake with a smirk on my face. He looked over at me mischievously, "you're evil; you know that?"

I giggled lightly, "I'm sorry. You were the one thinking it; I just said it out loud. Besides, don't you feel better after disappearing for a while?" my smirk back on my face.

"Not anywhere near as "better" as I could feel" he whispered to me, leaning forward and kissing my cheek. I shuttered at his innuendo. It was getting harder by the minute to not attack him in front of everyone. I exhaled heavily, "how about we talk about it tonight before bed okay?" There were a few conversations that we really needed to have but the sexual tension with us was becoming my main topic of concern. We needed to be on the same page about this. His face turned serious and he nodded, "okay Bells. When do you wanna head back? It's about nine thirty now. I know you didn't get much sleep last night and I have patrol from eight to noon tomorrow morning" he explained.

Just then Seth came out of the woods; he had been on patrol since four this afternoon. He nodded to Leah who walked off into the woods to start her patrol. I looked back over at Jake, "yeah I'm okay with going no, if you want. I really wanna talk to you about some stuff. And we both really need some sleep after the day we had" I reasoned. "Okay baby" he said, standing up and kissing my forehead before took off to go talk to Sam really quick while I started packing up our stuff. He walked back over seconds later holding a set of what I assume were their house keys and we said good night to the group and walked back to Sam and Emily's.

A/N: OK, so I realize there is a big jump in the personality of our main character, Miss Bella, I feel that Jacob would bring out a new more confident side of her. Edward restrained her about sex and really sexuality in general so I figure she would be different with Jake. Jake makes her feel wanted; therefore she feels sexy for the first time in her life. How long should I wait of the virgin sex? Let me know what you think. Should I prolong the tension, 'cause I for one love it, or should I let um go at it? Let me know. Thanks for the love. Review please- Ashley


	4. Emotions & Explorations

AN: Okay so this chapter contains the first Jake and Bella lemon. They explore their sexuality together for the first time, so proceed with caution if you don't like that stuff. Let me know what you think. Oh, and thank you to those of you who wrote especially long reviews for the last chapter. You know who you are. It was great hearing your thoughts. Okay on with the chapter. Please R&R.

Ten minutes later we were sprawled out on the king sized bed in Sam and Emily's back bedroom eating the sandwiches I had packed for the beach but had never got around to eating. Every once in a while I would see him look over at me like I was going to disappear. This bugged me; this was exactly why we needed to talk about what was going on with us. He needed peace of mind in this situation, since I was so notorious for hurting him.

But first, I needed to take care of myself. I noticed my bag of all of my clothes on the floor by the closet. After finishing my sandwich I got up from the bed. "Hey, I'm gonna go shower really quick okay? Then we'll talk. Sound good?" I asked him. He nodded and I went to my bag to find clothes before walking into the bathroom. I showered quickly, anxious to be back with Jacob. His attitude had changed drastically since I had told him I wanted to talk. I knew the gears in his head were turning and I knew I needed to put him at ease before we could move any father in our relationship.

I walked back into the bedroom to see him staring up at the ceiling like a prisoner on death row. I could tell his brain was working on over drive and he wasn't thinking in the right direction. "Jake, baby what's wrong?" I asked hesitantly. He looked over and gave me a sad smile. I sat down on the bed, crossing my legs underneath me.

"Nothing Bells, I'm fine really" his voice didn't portray any emotions. He was trying to convince himself more than me.

I exhaled dejectedly, this conversation really wasn't starting out the way I thought it would. "Well, I know your lying because I can read you like a book, so why don't you cut the crap and tell me what you're so worried about?"

He chuckled humorlessly, "Bella why don't you just tell me what you wanted to talk to me about so we can get this over with." He seemed utterly defeated and it was bringing tears to my eyes. I had really done a number on this guy by rejecting his love for so long. He hadn't even sat up to talk to me; he was still facing the ceiling, trying to avoid looking at me. This was pissing me off. He wasn't even giving me a chance.

I stood up on the bed and moved to straddle his waist, it was the only way I could think of holding his attention. I leaned forward and placed a hand on each of his cheeks, "stop pushing me away. I haven't done anything wrong, well recently. So you better cut the shit and talk to me damn it." He still didn't respond. Well, looks like this is going to be a one sided conversation.

"Jacob Ephraim Black, I love you with everything I am. I love that you are my best friend who has always been there for me, even when I tried to push you away. I love the fact that you never gave up on me. I love the way my body and soul scream for your touch and your companionship. I love that you are caring and compassionate. I love that you are stubborn and pig headed when you are fighting for something you want or believe in. I even love the fact that you have the power to drive me crazy like no one else ever has, and yes, that does have a double meaning" I smirked at the ending. His eyes locked with mine but he didn't speak so I moved on to the rest of what I needed to explain to him.

"I obviously need to explain to you why I picked you so you won't constantly be wondering if I'm doubting my decision or if I'm going to up and leave" I huffed, pausing for a second, thinking of wear to start ."Last night, when Edward woke me up because he couldn't take me dreaming about you anymore, when I looked into his eyes I realized I no longer recognized the person there. He was furious, he threw things and yelled. He held me against his bedroom wall and hurt my wrist. And as all of this was happening, my mind went through everything Edward and I had been through together up until that moment. And I realized it was all an act. He was never the selfless, caring person I thought he was. He had been forcing me into things like going to prom and getting married. He had expected me to be fine when he came back and would always guilt trip me whenever I brought up the pain I was in when he left. I realized I had fallen under some kind of spell. I was so shocked that he loved me, even if it wasn't the real me, that I let him control me and make my decisions for me. He tried to push me into staying away from you and that was the first time I fought back. I couldn't stomach being away from you for too long. I thought of all these reasons to rationalize why I couldn't live without you and nothing fit. I knew you loved me and I wanted nothing more than to return that love when Edward was gone. I had been falling for you the whole time but then when I got back from Italy, I stuffed all of my feelings for you away because the spell was back in place. But then that kiss before the new born battle" I paused to look up at him. His eyes were glossy like he was reliving the memory with me. He smiled slightly.

"That kiss broke down every wall I worked so hard build so I could keep you out. I relived it in my head for the entire week, then dreamed about our life at night. That whole week, I resented him for making me give you up. I wasn't whole any more. I distanced myself from him and his family, avoided conversations about the wedding and changing. I couldn't let you go. And then that final night was the last push I needed to walk away" I exhaled. His eyes searched mine for a second. He opened his mouth to speak but I put my finger on his lips, silencing him. I wasn't finished yet.

"I'm telling you all of this because I don't want you to think your second best or that I'm only here with you 'cause Edward went off the deep end. I love you and I will love you forever. I will never regret my decision, please know that." I removed my finger from his lips, tears trailing slowly down my cheeks. He wiped them away with his thumb, the pad of his hand holding my face.

"I'm sorry I acted like a jackass when we got here, it's just that the second you said you wanted to talk about some things my mind started racing and it didn't go in the right direction. I thought you might be changing your mind" he explained, his eyes never leaving mine.

I leaned my forehead against his, "never. You're it for me. I love you so much it hurts sometimes" I vowed. His frame loosened and his eyes closed, his forehead never leaving mine, "I spent so many days thinking it would never be like this with you. That you would never let me in. That I would never hear you say those words."

"I'm sorry I made you wait so long Jake. I was just so scared to let you in knowing that you would have no choice but to leave me some day."

He sighed, "damn it. And that is my fault; I was so torn in telling you. I just wanted you to love me without some supernatural pull. I'm sorry."

I had had enough of the sadness and regret, it was time for a subject change. "Well, now here we are; together and finally on the same page so why don't we let the past stay behind us and start fresh?" I couldn't help the cheerful ring in my words, the idea thrilled me. Just me and Jacob, in love with nothing holding us back. Well, except for my homicidal vampire ex-boyfriend.

Jake smiled brilliantly at me, "that sounds amazing baby, and it seems you got a head start on that today. I have never seen you so happy and confident and well…it was incredibly sexy" he chuckled. His hands started making there way up and down my arms. I shivered involuntarily.

"Sorry about calling you out on the dirty little fantasy earlier. I just couldn't help it. It felt so amazing to be wanted like that and to see it written all over your face just made something in me snap" I giggled, remembering the feeling. He smirked, "Bells, don't apologize for messing with me like that. I love the vixen in you. I'll love it even more when I can do something about it, but for now it feels good to be that comfortable with you", he started to place kisses on my neck and shoulders.

I giggled again, "Well actually, that is something I wanted to talk to you about. Since I don't think we, as a couple, are ready for sex, I think we could build up to it. There are other ways we can resolve some of that sexual tension."

He pulled away from my neck and looked at me with a shocked expression, "y-y-you mean like…" he stuttered. I cut him off. I smirked and leaned forward a placed open mouthed kisses on his chest, leading up to his neck. "there are plenty of things we can do with out hands…" I licked the sensitive skin behind his ear and he shuttered, "and our mouths…" I scratched my nails down his back lightly. "Plus I think when the time comes, the sex will be much better if we are already familiar with each other" I whispered before lightly biting his ear.

He'd had enough torture at that point, swiftly he switched our positions so I was on my back and he was hovering over me. He chuckled, "yeah, I've never really heard anything mind blowing about virgin sex. But I think being "familiar" with each other will really help in that department. But I have a question first and I want you to answer honestly" he requested. I grew nervous. I wasn't really sure I wanted to hear the question he was going to be asking me while on this topic. But then I figured modesty and shyness really wasn't going to help me in this situation. He would know every piece of me soon enough.

"Okay…" I responded, not hiding my hesitance.

He leaned closer to me, still hovering, "have you ever had an orgasm?" he whispered. Well since he knew I had never been farther than kissing with any guy, he was basically asking if I had ever gotten myself off. I blushed brightly, either way his response was going to be shocked.

"I have attempted but never succeeded" I answered quietly. He groaned, obviously picturing me trying to get myself off.

He seemed to be fighting an internal battle for a second before he asked, "What sparked the attempt or attempts?" He was trying to figure out what turned me on. The subject was laughable; everything about him turned me on. He was going to love this answer.

"Only one attempt, after the kiss where I punched you and saw you stand up to Edward. I was so close to giving in that day, and if you had been a little gentler, I probably would have but then Edward popped into my head and I tried to push you off" I explained. I could tell he was torn in his reactions, "what's that internal dilemma going on in your head?"

He huffed,"I'm ecstatic that it was me that sparked that reaction in you but pissed at myself for throwing myself at you like I did that day. I never really handled myself well in those situations with you. Being frustrated with you turned me into a jackass and for that I am sorry." I leaned up and kissed him deeply. I threaded my hands in his short hair and pulled him down so his body was pushed against mine. I parted my lips and his followed automatically. He groaned as I tugged on his hair. His weight felt amazing. He propped himself up on his elbows and I wrapped my legs up in his. He pulled away slightly, his forehead still pressed to mine, "I should apologize more often if this is your reaction" he whispered.

I giggled, "I'm just trying to demonstrate that sometimes throwing yourself at someone can lead to amazing feelings. Don't apologize for acting on what you felt. It worked out for us. That's all that matters."

His eyes started to shine down at me. Another beautiful smile spread across his face. I groaned.

"What are you groaning at?" he asked.

"I giggled, "That smile is enough to stop my heart sometimes. Like back when we would hang out in the garage, I would try and do or say things just so I could see that smile." He seemed speechless for a few minutes. He placed his head on my shoulder. "Jake, what is it? What's did I say?" I asked almost frantically.

"I don't know whether to kiss you are yell at you after that little confession" he answered, a slightly humorous undertone in his voice.

"Okay, sit up. Time for your turn in this one at a time conversation. I've put you through hell the last few months. You deserve to let everything be out in the open too" I persuaded. He seemed hesitant but started anyways.

"Bells, when you left to go save him in Italy, we were this close to taking the leap." He put up his fore finger and thumb in a pinching motion, the fingers were about a centimeter apart. "And after the cliff dive, I thought you were finally going to give it up and let me love you. And If that phone hadn't rang when it did I would have kissed you and we would have worked it out. But you left and you tore my heart out when you did. I begged you to stay but as soon as Alice told you he was in trouble it was like you had blinders on. And then when he came back, you just fell into his arms and everything he did to you was forgiven. If I said something wrong and I wouldn't hear from you for a week but he leaves you for six months and he didn't even get a slap on the wrist."

At this point the guilt was over bearing. Tears rolled down my cheeks like a flood. I hated that I had hurt him so much when he had done nothing but love me unconditionally. He continued despite my tears, "That whole time he was gone, I had to work so hard for everything. It took concentration to make you smile or laugh. I couldn't say anything that would upset you and sometimes I had to physically hold you together and then it was like all of a sudden you didn't need me anymore. He came back and everything I had done meant nothing." That was where I had to interrupt.

"No Jake, it meant everything. I was just so scared and stubborn. I was so certain that he loved me and that I loved him and I tried to make myself believe that nothing else mattered. I tried to force myself to believe that I knew who he was, but I was so blind. I ignored everything I felt for you because I was scared of the change; I was scared of losing our friendship and losing his love. I was afraid of ending up alone. I'm so sorry" I was sobbing at this point. I laid back down on the bed and cried for a few minutes, the guilt was stopping me from functioning. Jacob lay down next to me and pulled me into his chest.

"I'm so sorry Jake" I sobbed. I closed my eyes, not wanting to see him feel sorry for me. I didn't deserve his sympathy, I deserved for him to hate me.

He pulled me closer, "shhh, Bells, its okay. It was all worth it. All the crap we went through was worth it 'cause we get to be here right now, together and happy. I love you so much and this morning when you told me you loved me back, it made everything else disappear. I only told you all that stuff 'cause you asked me to be honest."

"You should hate me. I have done nothing but hurt you since I showed up here" I whispered, my voice cracking from my crying.

"Isabella Marie Swan, stop it. I could never hate you. I love you too much to ever consider hating you. Even if you had married him and became a bloodsucker, I would still love you. Now lets find something more positive to talk about" he insisted. I shook my head and stared back into his eyes.

"I love you so much. Please know that" I whispered to him, stroking his cheek. His face brightened at my words, "See, that's all I needed to hear. Everything else we have been through is completely worth it to hear that" he leaned forward a pecked my lips softly. "Did I mention that I love hearing that?" he laughed this time, it was music to my ears. His laughter was contagious, I giggled along with him.

"Not in so many words, but I think I got the idea. So now what?" I asked.

"I don't know. Sleep?"

"Not what I meant Jake. What are we going to do about my dad and Edward? Charlie needs to know what's going on and Edward is going to come after me" I explained, he shrugged.

"I don't know Bells. I mean we could do the wedding ceremony and make it so we could tell Charlie but that's up to you…" he started to continue and I cut him off. He was not going to blow over that topic like he intended.

"It's up to me? Last time I checked, it takes two people to be married Jake. What do you think about this?" he seemed hesitant to answer for a minute. His eyes scanned my face, like he was checking to see if I could handle his answer.

"I already know that I am going to spend the rest of my life with you so in my mind, the marriage ceremony really isn't that big of a deal. We would only be married in the eyes of the counsel. To everyone else it would be us formally promising ourselves to each other. It's like you accepting my imprint in front of the counsel, the pack and our families" he explained.

"Families? Can we at least tell my dad why we are doing this so soon before we have the ceremony? It would look a little weird to him if I went from engaged to Edward, to married to you that fast. I don't want him thinking that I'm rushing into this with you because of Edward." I asked, my dad's perception of the situation being the only thing holding me back.

"You know Bells, we really don't have to have your Dad there for the ceremony. We could just do it in front of the pack and the counsel. Then we can have everyone there when we tell your dad the whole story and we won't be breaking any tribal law"

I huffed, this was going to bite me in the ass later. "Yeah, that is beginning to look like our only option, but he is gonna be so pissed when he finds out I've been lying to him since I got here and I got "Quileute married" behind his back."

"Well, we will just make sure that he knows all of this had to happen so that he could be involved, he needs to know what's going on. It will be easier to protect you both. And I don't know about you, but I'm doing this because I love you and I want to keep you safe. Your past relationship has nothing to do with it" he explained, obviously not liking my reference to Edward earlier.

Okay now I felt guilty again, "hey, this only has to do with Edward because he is threatening me. All of this was going to happen in due time I just don't like the fact that his threat is speeding up our relationship and putting this pressure on it. I just wanted to take sometime to be Jake and Bells, that's all" I explained, I really didn't want him thinking that I didn't want this.

He smiled, "yeah, I get that. So how about this, we have the whole week as Jake and Bells, until our Dad's get back from fishing and then we will do one more week of me staying at your house sneaking through you window at night, then we will worry about the ceremony. Okay?"

He was trying to make me happy and it melted my heart but if I knew Edward, and I do, he won't wait that long. "Jake, lets just do this week until our Dad's get back. I really don't think Edward is going to wait that long and I need to be on the Rez with all of the pack if he attacks. We can have the ceremony on Sunday after Billy gets home" I compromised; I knew this was about my safety but the idea of being Jacob's wife really was thrilling to me.

"Are you sure?" he asked hesitantly.

"Absolutely, this is what I want. Plus, the idea of being your wife, even if it is just on the Rez, gives me the most unbelievable feeling" I murmured. He moved forward and leaned his forehead against mine again.

"What kind of feeling?" he whispered. I closed my eyes and just breathed him in for a minute, trying to gather my thoughts, even those his proximity was making it very difficult.

"It's this unbelievable blend of love, comfort and security, mixed with a passion I have never felt before and a promise of an amazing future. It's beautiful, almost too beautiful to wrap my head around" my voice thick with the emotions I was portraying.

He exhaled lightly, relief obvious in his posture change. "You have no idea what it does to me to hear you say that" he replied, his voice also husky with emotions.

"Then why don't you try and show me what it does to you" I asked quietly. He opened his eyes in shock for a minute before he picked me up and placed me on his lap. I wrapped my arms around his neck and his arms went around my hip.

"I love you Bella" he whispered, his forehead once again pressed to mine.

"I love you too Jake" and with that I leaned up and kissed him as passionately as I could manage. My hands went into his hair as he parted his lips and ran his tongue along my bottom lip, making me shiver.

I parted my lips and met his tongue quickly. We kissed for what seemed like eternity before he moved us so he was hovering over me. My legs wrapped around his waist without me really making the decision to do so. He removed himself from the kiss to look me deliberately in the eyes as he pushed his hips into mine. His hands slipped under my shirt, caressing my belly as I felt his obvious bulge push into my center.

I moaned, "oh god. Jake" with a shocked breath. I had never felt anything like this before. The friction was sending my head reeling. He pushed into me again, his eyes never leaving my face as I arched my back. I was helpless to his movements. I felt like putty in his hands.

"Bella, will you let me do something for you? I wanna help with the frustration, will you let me?"

His words barely registered, all I could think about was the pleasure I was no longer feeling due to his lack of movement. I hooked my feet together behind his back and pulled him into me again. We both groaned this time. His breath finally coming more ragged.

His hands slowly started to travel up my torso. He looked deep into my eyes, asking for permission as my shirt rode up to right below my breasts. I nodded and he pulled my shirt up over my head. I think he was expecting me to be wearing a bra 'cause as soon as he looked me over his eyes were wide in shock. He stared at me for a few minutes, although it felt like an eternity. I moved my arms to cover myself from his gaze.

He didn't move my arms. Instead he leaned back over me and started kissing my neck. He traveled up to my ear where he whispered, "Please don't ever hide from me". The emotion in his voice caused me to shiver violently; the love there was that powerful. He moved his hands to link his fingers with mine, our linked hands placed on top of both of my breasts. His eyes connected with mine as he moved my hands to my sides and started his kisses back down my neck. He released my hands gently and placed his on my stomach, slowly traveling up ward. One hand brushed the underside of my right breast while his lips touched the top of my left.

He was going agonizingly slow for my comfort and I could tell it was driving him insane, so I made an honest effort to relax my body. As soon as I did I felt his lips make contact with my left nipple while his hand kneaded my right breast gently. I moaned quietly, loving the attention he was giving and the new feelings I was experiencing. He licked around my nipple a few times before his gently bit it, then he switched.

I was going crazy, I moaned and squirmed. I could feel this unbelievable pressure in my lower abdomen that was completely out of reach. I could also feel myself grow wet quickly.

After a few minutes he brought himself back up to kiss me. I threw myself into the kiss like I never had before and pushed my naked chest into his. His hands traveled down my bare back and of course, I shivered again. I threaded my hands back into his hair and turned my head, deepening the kiss even farther. He groaned in my mouth.

I pulled away giggling slightly while trying to catch my breath. He continued to hover over me and plant kisses all over my face. "Jake, no offense, that was great and all, but I don't think either of us feels any less frustrated" I panted.

He chuckled, "yeah, well I was hoping that you would let me continue with my mission then. I just got a little distracted", his breath was as erratic as mine and that made me smile.

"What did you have in mind?" I asked hesitantly.

"Like I said before, I want to release some of your frustration. Do you trust me?" This question seemed to have a lot more meaning then just in our current situation. His eyes searched mine.

"With my life" I answered confidently. He smiled, placing his hands back on my stomach.

"Okay then, just relax and let yourself feel. Don't over think it or you'll just be even more frustrated." His hands traveled down to my pajama shorts and I closed my eyes to do exactly what he had said, just feel. He pulled down my shorts and moved the crotch of my underwear to the side. The cold air hit my heated core and I trembled. I heard Jacob take a deep breath, "Bella you smell amazing" he whispered before his fingers brushed my slit.

That tiny touch lit a fire in me. I needed friction and I couldn't wait any longer for him to give it to me. He slowly pulled my underwear down, leaving me naked in front of him for the first time. He slightly spread my legs and his fingers gently stroked my folds. I arched my back slightly without really thinking about it. Then I felt one of his fingers stroke the bundle of nerves that sent shock waves through my entire body. He continued to circle my until my legs were shaking and I was panting again. I could feel the pressure in my lower belly again and it was building. I tried to be quiet but I couldn't hold it in anymore, "Oh god. Jake please don't stop" I moaned, my back arching farther off the bed. His fingers picked up speed on my clit but then he placed one finger inside of me and I heard him groan.

He started to slowly thrust in one of his fingers in and out of my opening while adding more pressure to my clit wit the other hand. He added another finger, never letting up on his pace and then one more after a few more strokes. The pressure had built to an unbelievable level before I felt my vaginal muscles clamp down around his fingers.

I couldn't control my body anymore. I shook everywhere and my eyes clamped shut.

"Oh fuck" I practically yelled before I could stop myself. He continued to work my body into oblivion until my muscles loosened up again and the sensation died down. His fingers slowed as my body relaxed again. I brought my body back down on the bed and took deep breaths, my whole body buzzing in after glow. Finally he pulled his hands from my core and I opened my eyes to see him sucking on his fingers sensually, groaning.

"Jesus Bella, you taste better than you smell".

My whole face was red watching him. I didn't know how to react after that display of affection. I looked down and noticed he was still very hard. I didn't know what I should do. Should I try and return the favor?

I sat up and leaned forward to kiss him softly. "Thank you; that was amazing" I whispered. He smiled again, "yes it was. That was probably one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen. I'm so glad I got to give you that Bella."

I smiled back at him. The feeling he had just given me was something I didn't even know I could ever feel. I was so happy that he was the one to give me that feeling. Now I wanted to return the favor, I wanted to make him feel as good as he made me feel.

I looked up at him coyly, "your turn?" I wanted to sound more confident but I had no idea what I was doing and I wanted to make that extremely clear. He shared a brain with a bunch of sexually active wolves, that was obviously how he learned. But me, I needed to read sex for dummies to be able to gain some confidence in this situation.

He chuckled, "as amazing as that sounds, you don't really seem like you feel comfortable with that. Besides, tonight was about giving you that experience. It's okay really. Sam and Emily should be home soon anyways" he explained. Now I felt guilty, I wanted to spread the love but my own lack of self confidence was causing an issue and I wasn't going to let that happen.

"Jake lie down with me of a minute, I wanna explain something to you" I asked. He complied hesitantly a confused look on his face. He lay down and I lay down on top of him, finally comfortable with my nakedness. But all of a sudden he wasn't as comfortable. I could tell he was in pain from his hard on; his naked girlfriend lying on top of him probably not helping the situation.

"Jake, I realize that my lack of confidence about things that are new to me could cause problems in this department, but I want to push my boundaries for you. Just like you have always made me do, even without trying. I want to make you feel as weightless and amazing as you just made me feel. I want this to become comfortable for us. Please?" I pouted a little and gave him my most pleading eyes. He cracked quickly.

"Bella you realize this is a ridiculous argument to have right? I am ridiculously hard and you are laying on me naked asking to get me off and then you release those pouty lips and doe eyes on me. A guy only has so much self control" he whined. He really was trying to let me do what was comfortable for me, but this was one thing I wasn't going to let up on. I decided to fake confidence. I leaned forward to whisper in his ear, effectively pushing my breasts into his chest again.

"Then screw your self control and take your pants off" my voice was husky and he shivered underneath me. All of a sudden the fake confidence was replaced with real confidence, all because of one realization. Jake thought I was sexy, he wanted me. It wasn't that he wanted confidence; he just didn't want to do something to make me uncomfortable. My heart swelled and I backed up so I was still hovering over him and looking into his eyes.

His eyes were wide with shock at my statement. I ran my hands down his bare chest and abs slowly before reaching the buttons of his jeans. I undid then quickly and moved to pull them off. He lifted his hips to help me get them off. Once they were on the floor, I scanned him hungrily.

He was fucking perfection. Sex on legs. He was hard and big. Oh yeah did I mention he was big. His chest rose and fell erratically under my gaze and I realized I was subjecting him to the same torture he made me feel during my big reveal. I slowly ran my fingers along his inner thighs from my position between his legs. He groaned at the first touch and his cock jumped in anticipation. I hesitantly wrapped my hand around his shaft and marveled in how soft and warm he was. He hissed at the contact and I took that as encouragement.

Slowly, I worked my hand up and down him. He closed his eyes and arched his back slightly, putting himself harder into my hand. I continued to stroke him, changing up the pressure sporadically. I decided to stop thinking and act on instinct, his eyes being closed made it that much easier to do. Before I could talk myself out of it, I quickly shifted so I could wrap my lips around the head of him.

He jumped but didn't pull away from me; instead he moaned my name loudly. I swirled my tongue around his head a few times before I took as much of him in my mouth as I could manage. He tasted amazing, purely Jacob. I used my hand to stroke where I couldn't fit him into my mouth. I bobbed my head up and down on him slowly, his whole body tensed.

"Bells, if you keep that up I'm gonna cum in your mouth" he warned. I didn't care, wasn't that kinda the point. To show my consent I took a deep breath through my nose and relaxed my throat, sliding him in as far as I could manage. He hit the back of my throat and I moaned around him. His fingers made his way into my hair and the vibration of my moan sent him over the edge, he burst; sending warm liquid down my throat. I swallowed around him and he moaned again.

"Oh shit, Bells" he was still tense so I bobbed on him a couple more times waiting for him to relax before I released him. He was breathing heavily and I was extremely proud of myself. I just sat there between his legs watching him come down from his high.

"Jesus Bella, that was fucking amazing. You shocked the hell out of me but god, that was amazing" he stammered. I smiled widely. I wanted to crawl into his lap and fall asleep with him but I was extremely aware of the fact that we were both naked still. As if he could read my mind, he bent over the bed to pick up the boxer I hadn't even realized I had pulled off with his jeans. He slipped them back on and crawled under the blankets. I got up off the bed and looked around on the floor for my clothes.

"Oh man, I was hoping that if I put my boxers back on you would sleep naked" he whined. I couldn't help my laughter; he was so cute when he pretended to whine. Out of the corner of my eye I saw our beach bag; I walked over to it and pulled out his black t-shirt that he wore to my house earlier that day. I slipped it on and turned for him playfully. The t-shirt was big; it went to my thighs like a dress. It was perfect.

He laughed, "okay that's a good compromise, now get over here."

"Hey, are you one of those guys that like it when his girl wears his clothes?" I asked. My curiosity on the act kind of random but still, I wanted to know what he liked.

He chuckled lightly, "Yeah it's hot, you walking around in my clothes, especially knowing you are naked underneath." I giggled, we really were turning into horny teenagers quickly. I found my underwear and slipped them on before crawling in bed next to him. He pulled me into his chest and relaxed around me.

"Do you think we moved too far too fast?" Jake asked quietly. I knew he was going to say something like that, considering we were already lying in bed together half naked on our first day together. I rolled over so I could look in his eyes, "you were the one that said it would be as easy as breathing with us. We just proved the theory" I smiled lovingly up at him.

"You know I don't ever wanna push you into anything right? Like what you said about how Edward would make you do all of these things like prom and a wedding. I don't ever want to do that to you" he really seemed to be thinking out loud at this point, he stared off into the room.

"Hey, look at me" he continued to stare for a few seconds before he locked his eyes with mine. "You have never pushed me into anything I don't want to do. And you never could for one reason and one reason only, you see me as an equal. We are a team. Anything we do we do it together because it's what we both want. Well, there's one other reason. I'm too stubborn to let even a werewolf push me around, any of you" I finished with a smile. He chuckled with me.

"Better?" I couldn't help but ask.

"Yeah, just promise me something" he requested.

"Anything" I vowed, no apprehension in my voice.

"We have to keep up with this honesty thing. No sparing the others feelings. Okay?"

"That was my plan all along. Why do you think I made us both pour our hearts out tonight? Even though the guilt was overwhelming, I wanted to know what I did to you. I wanted you to be able to explain it. I want us to be able to talk about anything" I explained.

He placed a soft kiss to my forehead, "okay Bells, but we forgot one thing".

"And what's that?"

"Who's going to turn off the light in here?" he joked. I rolled my eyes before we both looked over to the light switch by the door.

I laughed, "Well I think you should. It gives me the opportunity to watch you parade around in your boxers. Very hot" I teased, only half joking.

He gave me a mischievous smirk before crawling out of the bed slowly. He put on his most confident face and strutted over to the light switch. I couldn't contain my laughter. He switched off the light and jumped on the bed, "Oh is that funny?" he asked while he started tickling my sides mercilessly.

I could barely speak I was laughing so hard. I tried squirming away from his grasp but he held firm.

"No it wasn't funny. I swear" I yelled, trying to get him to stop. He finally stopped and started laughing himself.

"Oh yes it was, oh and by the way, tomorrow, you turn off the lights" he informed me. I laughed again, thinking of what I could do to top his little performance. "It better be good" he taunted in my ear.

I settled down in his arms again, my back pressed against his chest. Just as I started to doze off I heard Jacob say, "Good night Bells, I love you".

I whispered "I love you too" before I fell into the most restful sleep I had had in years.


	5. The Truth Comes Out

I was the most content I had been in months waking up with Jacob's arms wrapped around me. It really did seem like the most comfortable position in the world, his chest pressed against my back, one arm underneath me resting on my stomach while his other hand cupped my breast. Only Jake could cop a feel while unconscious. I knew it was still early so I rolled over slowly to face him, wanting to fully appreciate the moment. The peace that radiated off of him when he slept made my whole body relax into him.

He looked just like the Jacob I spent all of those afternoons with in his garage before he changed. He had a light smile on his face that made my heart swell. Knowing that I was the one to put that smile there was one of the most amazing feelings I ever witnessed.

I slowly reached up to stroke his cheek. He sighed in his sleep; softly murmuring my name. I couldn't help it anymore; I leaned forward and pressed my lips to his as softly as I could manage. I felt his arms snake tighter around me and pull me closer. His lips parted and his tongue snaked out to meet mine. I body started to buzz just like it had last night. He rolled us over so I was straddling his waist and ran his hands under my t-shirt. He lovingly cupped both of my breasts under my shirt, his thumbs grazing my nipples. I pushed my hips into his in response. We both groaned at the friction. He pulled his lips away from mine slightly, "Well, good morning to you too". He chuckled and the vibration went straight to my core.

I smirked, "I would apologize for attacking you but I know you don't mind. I just wanted to let you know how happy it made me to wake up next to you this morning". I leaned down again and peppered his face with kisses before I slowed them down, I trailed open mouthed kisses down his neck.

He lifted his hips up again to push his harder into mine, I swiveled my hips to meet his thrust. He continued to fondle my breasts while I felt the spring in my lower stomach start to coil tightly. "You know, for someone who said they wanted to wait on the sex, you sure are raring to go" he joked. I nipped at his neck lightly in response. It was true, ever since we got everything figured out with us and decided to be together, it was like my body was aching for him.

I continued to nip and suck up and down his neck, paying special attention to his pulse point. I paused my ministrations and started to drag my nails lightly down his pecs and abs. "Jake, I've been thinking, post marital sex is a little too traditional for us. I think if we are going to give ourselves to each other emotionally during the ceremony, then we should handle the physical part before" I confessed.

"So you think premarital sex is more our style. You do know that that would mean we will be doing this before Sunday then." The first part of his statement was teasing but he seemed hesitant about the second part.

I rotated my hips again causing him to close his eyes and hiss at the pressure. "I can't wait any longer than that" I whispered while gently biting his neck. He shook violently for a second and then sat up quickly. He pulled my shirt up over my head and attacked my neck. He tweaked and kneaded my breasts while I continued to rotate my hips, picking up speed. He started to bite and suck at my neck and the coil in my abdomen tightened again. Just when I was starting to think we shouldn't wait another minute, let alone another week, the door swung open.

"Damn it Jake, you were supposed to start patrol a half hour….Oh shit" Seth came barreling in the door. He stood stock still in the door way, staring. He was staring at my back and my ass in my thong underwear, from his side view he could see partial boob. Jake picked up the comforter and threw it over me as I rolled off of him. Jake turned red under his russet skin, "Seth, shut the fucking door" he yelled. The door swung closed just as quickly as it had opened. My face was permanently red, "Damn Jake, what happened to super wolf hearing" I scolded.

He started busting up laughing, "Are you fucking kidding? Between the conversation we were having and the position we were in, you expect me to be paying attention to something other than you". I shoved my head into the pillow, holding back the urge to scream.

"There will be no living with him after this. The crush he has on you was bad enough before. Now he's got ammo for his spank bank" Jake continued to tease.

He pulled me up off the pillow I was trying to suffocate myself in and pulled me too him, he tried kissing my neck again but I pushed him away. "Oh no, I don't think so. You better just go patrol before another one of your brothers comes in to catch a glimpse of me naked". He chuckled but got up out of the bed and put his jeans on.

"Okay, I'll be back at 12:30 and we will continue the conversation we were having before the pipsqueak walked in and ruined the moment" he gave me a mischievous smile that made me want to pull him back into the bed. "Oh get out of here wolf boy. I'll see you back here for lunch. I'm sure I'll be in the kitchen with Emily when you get home. Someone has to feed you beasts" he walked towards the door laughing and shaking his head.

"Bye Bells. I love you" he smiled my favorite smile.

"Jacob Black, if you ever plan on touching me again then I suggest you come over here and say good bye to your girlfriend properly" I pretended to chastise.

His smile widened and he walked over quickly like I was scolding him. I leaned up and he kissed me softly, before winking at me and walking back to the door.

"I love you too" I yelled out the door after him. I heard the dinning room erupt in what can only be explained as brotherly congratulations. I dressed quickly before walking out into the dinning room, where I received a standing ovation. My face turned so red it was almost purple.

Seth wouldn't make eye contact with me and his face was almost as red as mine. The pack had obviously been laying into him and now it was my turn.

Quil started it, of course, "Hey Bell, we heard you gave quite the performance this morning".

Embry followed, "Yeah, I can't wait until patrol with Seth so I get to witness it first hand". I glared at him and he raised his hands in mock surrender. "Sorry, I might be a wolf but I am also a male and newsflash Bella, you are the hottest friend I have" he tried to defend.

"Yeah, just don't let Jake hear you talk like that or you will be a man/wolf with a limp" Jared warned, winking at me.

Then Paul addressed me for the first time since I had been back, "well Izzy, normally I wouldn't hold back on the comments where a naked girl is concerned, but considering your going to be my sister-in-law in a few years, I'm gonna keep my mouth shut". The room went silent in that moment. I never expected that from Paul of all of the pack members. I would expect the worst jokes and the most innuendos but then again, I hadn't seen him since he imprinted on Jacob's sister Rachel. She was obviously having a big effect on him and I wasn't the only one noticing.

Embry just had to comment on Paul's revelation, "Damn Paul, imprinting sure did kill your funny. You've been whipped ever since you set eyes on Rachel" he taunted.

Paul snorted, "Oh give me a break. You sound like a girl the way you freak out about Angela, the internal conflict gives us all a headache. 'Should I call her, or just show up? When should I tell her the secret? Is she gonna freak out?'" he mocked in his best Embry voice.

I giggled, "Yeah Embry, she's a human girl and you morph into a giant wolf, I think it's safe to say she will freak out" I mocked. He started to pout, "Come on Iz, you didn't freak out and you're a human girl" he pointed out. The new nick names were taking me off guard; no one had ever called me Izzy or Iz but I was starting to like it, it made me feel welcomed.

"Em, we all know I'm good with weird. Keep in mind I was dating a vampire at the time. You can't get any weirder than that" I concluded, the room seemed hesitant to respond every time I brought up The Cullen's but I wasn't gonna let it bother me.

"Speaking of them, any word on my crazy ex-boyfriend?" I asked casually. Sam spoke up, "Alice has called a couple times this morning, you will need to call her back after breakfast" his alpha voice rang in his words. I felt like it was his attempt at treating me like a pack member.

I nodded and walked into the kitchen to help Emily cook breakfast for the pack. When I came back into the dining room Jared and Seth had left, leaving two empty spaces.

Just as I was placing the food on the table, the screen door swung open and two younger boys came barreling in, "Food!" they exclaimed. Emily was the first to raise her voice, "Brady, Colin, HEAL!" she yelled. The room busted up in laughter, both boys halted quickly. When they finally looked up from the plate in my hands, they both looked me over appraisingly. One of them grinned at me mischievously as his eyes traveled my body.

"Damn, this must be Bella. I'm sorry, we haven't been formally introduced. I'm Brady" he introduced cockily holding his hand out to me. The other boy, Colin, watched my interaction with Brady and smirked, "Hi Bella, I'm Colin. Please excuse this idiot" he nudged Brady slightly.

I couldn't help the laugh that escaped me when Brady took the plate from my hand then took my hand and kissed it quickly, his eyes never leaving mine.

"Wow, I think I just had déjà vu" I mumbled.

Embry stood up, "go sit down you moron" he pushed Brady towards his chair and Colin followed quickly, "Bell, what do you mean déjà vu?"

"That interaction with the pups just reminded me of when I met you and Quil for the first time" I smirked up at him, he chuckled.

"Pups?" Colin and Brady were outraged.

"Oh no hold on, Brady is nothing like me, I was waaay cooler" Quil tried to defend himself. Embry and I laughed together.

"Oh give me a break, you were as big a dork as Brady" Embry responded between chuckles. The room continued to chuckle at Quil's expense for a few minutes. The cheerful mood was interrupted by the phone ringing.

Emily sighed, "Bella, that would be Alice. She is on call number three of the morning". I gave her a knowing look and walked over to pick up the phone. She was yelling before I could get out a proper hello, "Isabella Marie Swan- soon to be Black, why hasn't my future disappeared? You, Jacob and the Pack were supposed to come over today, but I can clearly see my entire day. Did you forget about me?" she whined.

I gasped, "I'm sorry Alice. I didn't forget about you, there's just so much going on around here. I can't get everyone in the same place to discuss it. I'm sure we can come after Jake gets off patrol. Is that okay?"

She heaved a relieved sigh, "oh much better. From 1:30 to 3:00 my future disappears. I'll see you then".

I giggled at her antics before I remember the reason for our meeting today, "Have you heard anything about Edward? Oh and how did the conversation with Kate go?" I rambled.

"Oh no Miss Swan, the more I tell you over the phone the less time I get to see you. Just be patient, you aren't in immediate danger. If you were, wolf boy would be the first to know." And with that final message she hung up, obviously predicting my rebuttal. The little nymph really was crazy. I walked back over to the dining room table.

"Hey Em, I completely forgot our meeting with Alice today. Could you phase and let Jacob know that we gotta go over their after his patrols?" I asked Embry, my favorite wolf, besides Jake obviously.

"Sure thing Bell" he ran out the door and left an entire room full of wolves staring at me. Sam and Emily sat off to the side at the bar in the kitchen. I linked eyes with Sam "are you good with that? Alice really wants to meet with us after Jake's patrols" I asked, slightly worried that I was over stepping some boundaries.

He gave me a small smile, "sure Bella, that's perfect. The sooner we meet with them the better. We are pretty rehearsed with them after the new born battle. I'm not worried."

The whole room seemed to look back and forth between us, "who all is gonna go?" I asked as the entire table looked over at me.

He shrugged, "I figured just the three of us would be fine. Jake and I will stay human while Embry, Paul and Jared can stay outside as wolves". I nodded along.

Brady didn't seem thrilled, "How come we can't go? I've never been anywhere near a leech. Neither has Colin. What's the point in being trapped in a wolf body if you can't fight vamps?" It really was obvious that he was the youngest in the group.

Sam huffed, "Brady, I'm going to explain this to you one more time. You can't go anywhere near the Cullen's because you are the youngest of the wolves. Your instincts will be screaming at you to kill and we can't afford a broken treaty. The Cullen's are vamps we do not fight. All of them are off limits, except for Edward. And the only reason he is the exception is because he threatened one of the pack."

Brady face turned into an unattractive sneer, "She's part of the pack? Two days ago she was a bloodsucker in training and now just because she made her way into the right wolf's bed she's part of the pack?"

Here I thought it was gonna be a good morning. That was a low blow and the whole room seemed to take a collective breath in shock. The tears that flooded my eyes were uncontrollable at that point. My confidence had improved drastically in the last two days but being called a bloodsucker in training and a slut in the same breath really took the wind out of me. I was up from my place at the dining table and locking the bedroom door before another word could be uttered in my direction. I was aware of Sam's yelling and Embry reentering the house as I was running past but I didn't stop until I was curled up in bed.

Suddenly, even thought I had only woken up a couple hours before, I was exhausted. I rolled over and snuggled into Jacob's pillow, his scent calming me. I ignored the gentle knocking on the room and closed my eyes, not wanting to think anymore about the sucker punch I was just delivered. I drifted quickly after that.

INSERT LINE 

It could have been an hour but then again it could have been 5 minutes later, I woke up to a tapping on the bedroom window. Jacobs's solemn expression was all I saw through the glass. I got up and opened the window for him. He climbed in quickly, "Bella, I'm so sorry. I'm gonna kick that kids ass for talking to you that way. He's new to the whole imprint dynamic, but still there's no excuse. I can't believe he had the balls to verbally attack an imprint" he was fuming.

He paced in front of the open window, "I'm so sorry honey…" I raised my hand to cut off his apology. "Jake, stop apologizing. So Brady doesn't like me. I was under the impression that I was in the clear cause Leah and Paul were both fine with me, but I guess I was mistaken. Is there anyone else in the pack that thinks that way? I mean Jared barely speaks to me, and I haven't really talked to Rachel yet" It was his turn to cut me off, however I like his tactics way better. He cut me off with the sweetest of kisses. Needless to say, my train of thought evaporated in that moment.

He smiled slowly; he knew what he did to me, "Bella calm down. Nobody thinks that way, Brady doesn't even think that way. He's new to the wolf thing. The fact that he and Colin are the only wolves that haven't killed a vampire really drives Brady nuts. Then factor in the coven living within a couple miles that they can't do anything about because of one human. He spoke before he thought. I'm not making excuses, it's just the facts."

I exhaled loudly, then there was a knock on the door. Jake opened it quickly, a small looking Brady on the other side.

Jacob took on his own version of a alpha voice, "Brady I think you better go out and patrol for a couple hours. An outburst like that on an imprint will not be tolerated". I placed my hand on Jake's arm, "Jake he obviously has something to say, just let him get it out" I smiled lightly at him and he took my hand, nodding quickly to Brady.

Brady took a deep breath, "Bella, I'm really sorry. It's just so frustrating being the youngest and everyone telling you that you're the least controlled of the group. All I wanna do is prove myself and I can't because of the treaty. I'm really sorry I took it out on you. That wasn't fair. I just know that least about you and I know about your connection with them, it just made you a really easy target" he shrugged as he finished. I nodded encouragingly, "Okay Brady, I get it. Obviously, there are some things I need to address with the pack and I want to thank you from bringing that to my attention" I noticed I must have lost them both, they looked questioningly at each other and then at me.

"Bells, what are you talking about?" Jake asked.

I leaned up and kissed his cheek quickly then I walked out of the room without another word. I walked down the hall and back to the living room where the majority of the pack had congregated after breakfast. I checked the clock, it was 12:15, I had plenty of time before we had to go meet with the Cullen's.

The room went mostly quiet at my entrance, Embry nudged Quil to shut him up, then everyone's attention was on me. Leah and Paul were walking in the front door, Jared and Seth were playing video games (which they quickly turned off), Jake and Brady were standing in the hall way and Embry and Quil were sitting quietly on the couch.

"It's been brought to my attention that some of you are uncomfortable with my sudden reappearance here. I can tell by the way certain things I say are interpreted that you guys could be questioning my loyalties. I just wanted to give everyone an opportunity to ask me any questions that might be worrying you, in reference to anything. I think of you all as family, I would love it if the feeling could be mutual. So I am opening the door" I finished with a small smile which most of the room returned a few seemed to lost in thought.

To my shock, Embry was the first to raise his hand "Bella, you know I love you. You've always been a part of the pack in my mind so don't hold any of my questions against me" I nodded in encouragement.

He huffed, he looked almost ashamed of the question he was going to ask, "We let you in the first time. You were already apart of the pack to us. Granted we knew that Jake had imprinted and you didn't, but still you left. Why?"

I took that moment to plop down cross legged on the floor in the middle of my living room. Jacob moved quickly to sit next to me and hold my hand. We were presenting a united front. "I made a mistake; I thought I was in love. I was so sure that I knew him and he knew me. I was positive that we loved each other enough for eternity. I was so sure that I backed away from my friends and family, took him back after all the damage he did and agreed to marry him. Then he tried to push me away from Jake and that was when I finally started to fight back. After the new born battle, I knew I loved Jacob and that just made me more torn in a million directions. I broke both of our hearts that day" I ended with a soft apologetic smile at Jacob. He squeezed my hand and leaned forward to kiss my forehead.

Then I looked up and scanned then room, my eyes linked with Leah "what snapped you out of it?" she asked, none of the usual sting in her voice.

"The day I said good bye to Jake, I was so overcome with grief and loss. I couldn't even drive home. Alice had to call Edward to come and get me when I was on the side of the road outside the treaty line. I cried nonstop for the next 24 hours and he played his part to the letter. He held me and when I woke up the next morning he asked me if I had made the right decision. He kept telling me that if I wanted to change my mind he would respect that and let me go. The more he said it though, the less I believed it. I lived with him and his family for the week. I hid from the sun, I barely slept and when I did sleep I would have the most vivid dreams. As that started taking place he wanted me to sleep less so he would try distracting me. I was miserable and I would wake up every morning with this overwhelming sense of loss. Then finally I woke up two nights ago to him screaming at me and breaking the windows in his bedroom. I had been dreaming about Jacob and it was slowly driving him insane." I looked up to see that entire room on the edge of there seat like I was telling them all a bed time story.

Seth locked eyes with me "Well, what happened?"

I nodded and continued, "He told me that I had been talking in my sleep. He scared me; I realized that I had no idea who this person was. Our entire relationship had been a façade. I didn't know the person I was staring at. I needed to get out of there as quickly as possible. I tried to be calm about it but he held me up against his bedroom door". Jacob's frame tensed next to me, I had always refrained from going into detail about the physical part of that night but I knew it needed to be all laid on the table. I wrapped both my hands around his very warm one and soothingly massaged his palm.

"He wrapped one of his hands around my wrist tightly and pushed me up against the door with his chest. He told me that we would have our eternity. Then he removed me from the door and pushed me up against the bedroom wall. The door flung open as the rest of the family came to my rescue and he dropped me and took off out the open window. I left and was on Emily and Sam's door step 20 minutes later" I scanned the room then, they all seemed to have this aura of new found understanding.

Quil was next to raise his hand like a confident student; I couldn't help by smile at him, "I heard the conversation you had with Emily that night. Your original plan was to go to Jacksonville and the let the Cullen's deal with Edward. You didn't even plan on talking to Jake, why?"

"That was simple, I knew Jake needed to imprint. He would have fought it if I stayed. I had no idea that he had already imprinted on me. I told Emily I would come back after he imprinted, but I couldn't watch it happen. I love him enough to let him go if he's happier somewhere else" I locked eyes with Jacob then. He leaned forward and kissed me sweetly, "I'm never letting you go" he whispered against my lips. The room seemed to collectively clear there throat at that moment, making me blush and Jacob's face light up.

Jake spoke next, "Well I have a question." The room went still, especially me. What could he possibly want to know? I had already told him everything. He smiled down at me, "how does everyone feel about a Quileute wedding ceremony next Sunday? It would take place after Billy gets back from his fishing trip. It will just be the counsel and the pack."

I let out the breath I didn't realize I was holding. The whole room erupted into happy discussion. Everyone but Seth seemed to become distracted by the news, he locked eyes with me.

He gestured his head towards the door and walked out minutes later, I stood up with Jake a minute. "Hey, Seth wants to talk to me about something outside. I'll be right back. Then we gotta go see Alice okay?" He nodded and kissed my forehead. I walked out the front door towards the drive way.

"Seth, what's up?" his face held this mask that I used to see on Jacob just after his first transformation, when he tried to tell me we could never be friends again. That mask immediately had me a high alert.

He looked at me for a second before he decided to stare at the ground, "Bella, I gotta ask you something and believe me I know its completely out of line but you could be in danger" he wasn't making any sense.

"Hey, slow down and just tell me. I'm not new to being in danger I can handle it" he nodded.

"Well, you know how I'm kinda the book worm of the group. I do all the pack research with the counsel literature" he paused and I nodded for him to continue. "Well I found a journal of a wolf from few generations ago. They had been attacked by a pair of male vamps. One of them had taken a liking to the chief's oldest daughter. She had been under his spell and thought she was in love. The pack killed the leeches and then found out that she had been intimate with her bloodsucker. It turns out the leeches can impregnate human women. The chief had to kill his own daughter because of the hybrid she was pregnant with" he couldn't look at me as he finished. "I know its none of my business, but is it at all possible that..." I cut him off.

"No Seth. It's not possible. I never slept with Edward. He was always too afraid of hurting me. Just for the record so the whole slut thing doesn't get brought up again, Jacob will be the first and only person I ever sleep with." I placed my hand on his shoulder, "thank you for looking out for me.

I reached forward and hugged him them, "I'll always look out for you Bella. You're part of the pack now. We are family." That brought tears to my eyes. He was the first to say it and I couldn't have been happier.

"Oh come on Bella, I can't return you to Jake crying. I'll never hear the end of it. I saw what he did to Brady. Let me tell you, it wasn't pleasant" I chuckled at him. We started walking back to the house then. Jake had obviously gotten anxious cause he was waiting for us on the front porch. Jacob scanned my face quickly, "Seth, why is she crying? What did you say?" I shook my head at him while grabbing his chin, pulling him down to my level, "Hey there wolf man, these are happy tears. Don't yell at him. He's just looking out for me."

Seth took my hand, squeezing it for a second as a thank you and quickly ran back into the house. Jake placed his hand on my cheek wiping away my tears.

"What did he say?" he smiled, his palm never leaving my face.

I really didn't want to share the entire story, but Seth would end up telling him the next time they were wolves together anyways.

I took his hand from my cheek and linked our fingers, "well the part that made me cry, he welcomed me to the family kinda. It was just nice to hear" I paused.

"Bella, what are you not telling me? Remember I can read you just as well as you can read me." He said with a smirk.

I smiled briefly at him before I started to explain, "He wanted to know if I had subjected myself to a certain danger while I was with Edward. It turns out that there is a journal in the counsel records that shows a human women getting pregnant by a vampire. She had to be killed by her tribe because she was pregnant with a hybrid" I explained.

His whole frame went rigid. He looked like he was going to jump out of his skin, which for him was a legitimate possibility. Then he tried to back away from me while starting to shake.

"Jacob, hey Jake look at me" he tried to drop my hands and make a run for it, "Jacob look in my eyes. It's not possible. It will never happen to me. Think about my dreams. That's how it's all gonna happen for us. Just breathe. Take a deep breath and think about what's gonna happen, not what could have happened" he took a breath and the shaking visibly diminished. He leaned up against the wall, his eyes closed while he took long deep breaths.

Once I saw he was in control again I rushed forward and wrapped my arms around his back, my cheek resting on his chest. His hands went to my back, rubbing soothingly down my back.

He exhaled loudly, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to freak out on you like that. That's just really scary to think about."

I pulled back to look at him, "I know its scary but it's never gonna happen so lets not think about it okay? We have so many other things to worry about" he chuckled at that and finally I knew we were okay.

He moved forward so his forehead we resting against mine, "I love you" he whispered before he lowered his lips to mine. He moved his hands to my hair and I wrapped my arms around his neck pulling him closer. We were fully content in each others arms when Sam walked up the porch clearing his throat.

He didn't even pause, he just kept walking by "Come on love birds, we got some leeches to meet with" he yelled over his shoulder.

Jake pulled away at the sound of his voice, the wolf hearing obviously not working again. I smiled up at him, "So are we good now? No more freak out?"

He returned my favorite smile before nodding, "Yeah we're good. I'm sorry I…"then he paused and it was like a light bulb went off. "Bella what are you thinking? Why are you trying to calm down a shaking wolf? You know how dangerous that could have been if I hadn't calmed down" he almost yelled. I could tell that he had scared himself more than anything.

"Jacob Black don't you yell at me. I calmed you down didn't I? Why are you being so "worse case scenario" right now? We are both fine. No one is in immediate danger and you don't scare me so get used to it" I threw right back at him.

Then we heard it, "Jacob, Bella, get your asses in here. We need to get going" the alpha voice rang through the house.

A.N. Next chapter we pick up right where we left off with the meeting with the Cullen's. Let me know what you think. I spent the whole weekend sick so I figured I would send out some written love. Please send it back. Thank you-Ashley


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